US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump and the Pope “don’t have to agree on everything”, America’s top diplomat in the EU has said as he defended the US President for his attacks on Pope Leo.

In recent days, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have launched stinging criticisms of Pope Leo, who has been calling for peace in the Middle East. 

Speaking to reporters in Dublin this afternoon, US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder, who is himself Roman Catholic, defended the harsh criticism of Pope Leo.

“You have to look at what the President says and what the Pope says. And if they disagree, they disagree, and I don’t know what else to say.

“They don’t have to agree on everything. President Trump doesn’t have to agree with the Pope, and the Pope doesn’t have to agree with President Trump, and they’re both free to say whatever they want to say,” he said. 

Earlier this week, the US President wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Pope was “WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy”. 

He said he “didn’t want a Pope who criticises the President of the United States” and that he likes the Pope’s brother, Louis, “much better than I like him” because he is “all MAGA”. 

“Leo should get his act together as Pope,” Trump said.

A short while later, the US President also posted an AI-generated image of himself depicted as a Christ-like figure, before deleting it after criticism and claiming it was a picture of him depicted not as Jesus, but as a doctor.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Vice President, J.D. Vance, said yesterday that it was important for the Pope “to be careful when he talks about matters ⁠of theology” when referring to conflict.

Puzder on EU-US relationship

Puzder has been the US Ambassador to the EU since the beginning of Trump’s second term in January 2025. 

He is in Dublin this week ahead of Ireland hosting the EU Presidency in July as part of efforts to promote Washington’s perspective on the 6-month presidency. 

Since taking up his role, he has been a vocal critic of EU tech rules, arguing that they unfairly target American companies and hurt freedom of speech.

“Saying deregulation in Europe is like saying Voldemort in the Harry Potter novels. You know, it’s like the thing that can’t be said,” Puzder told reporters today in Dublin. 

Asked by The Journal what his perspective is on the current EU-US relationship more broadly at the moment, he said he believes “our economies are very interconnected… no matter what the headlines might be”. 

“I think Europe can be extremely prosperous. I just think the economy has gone in the wrong direction,” he said, arguing that the EU needs to invest more in fossil fuels to deal with “energy poverty”.