About this episode
The episode discusses the public dispute between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV regarding violence and diplomacy.
President Donald Trump has been clashing with Pope Leo XIV for weeks now in a rare and increasingly public dispute between a U.S. president and the head of the Catholic Church. The pope has warned against the escalating violence around the world and called for peace and diplomacy. But Trump has pushed back hard, going so far as to call the pope “weak on crime” and falsely suggesting that he supports Iran having nuclear weapons. USA TODAY World Affairs Correspondent Kim Hjelmgaard joins The Excerpt to share his insights. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com . Episode transcript available here . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
People in this episode
Host: USA TODAY
Guest: Kim Hjelmgaard
Topics covered
- politics
- religion
- international relations
- conflict
- diplomacy
Keywords
- Trump
- Pope
- Catholic Church
- violence
- diplomacy
- Iran
- nuclear weapons
More episodes of The Excerpt
- PCB cleanup workers say they weren’t protected. Now Scot has cancer. · June 12, 2026 · 16 min
- Forget night clubs. Morning raves are where it's at. · June 11, 2026 · 10 min
- Is the 2026 World Cup about to change soccer forever? · June 10, 2026 · 15 min
- They rejected Biden’s 2020 win. Now they’re running for office. · June 9, 2026 · 12 min
- Turmoil at ’60 Minutes’ after Pelley and two others are fired · June 8, 2026 · 14 min
- At Tribeca, music films are moving beyond the screen · June 5, 2026 · 16 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Excerpt podcast page.