Donald Trump has issued a fresh verbal attack against Pope Leo XIV, accusing the pontiff of “endangering a lot of Catholics” because “he thinks it’s fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”.
The remarks come two days before Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, meets Leo at the Vatican in an effort to ease the tensions sparked by Trump’s previous broadside against the Chicago-born pontiff over his condemnation of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Speaking to Hugh Hewitt, a prominent conservative radio talkshow host on the US-based Salem News network, Trump said the pope “would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I don’t think that’s very good”.
“I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” the US president added. “But I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Leo has never said that Iran should have nuclear weapons, but has repeatedly opposed the war on the country and the subsequent escalation of the conflict in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, calling for ceasefires and dialogue.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. He’ll spend the day in meetings, tape an interview, and sign a proclamation before attending a Rose Garden Club dinner at the White House at 7pm ET.
We’ll hear from the president directly at 10:30am ET in the Oval Office, and then secretary of state Marco Rubio will address reporters for a press briefing at 3pm ET. We’ll also bring you the latest lines as that gets under way
Earlier, Caine said some 22,500 mariners remain trapped in the strait of Hormuz and are unable to transit.
He says commercial vessels in the region will feel US military power around them in the seas and the skies.
The joint force is “ready to resume major combat operations” against Iran if ordered to do, he added.
Hegseth insists, in response to reporters’ questions, that the ongoing ceasefire “is not over”.
He called Project Freedom “separate and distinct”, but the administration will be watching “very, very closely” to ensure that Iran does not violate the ceasefire agreement. Hegseth maintained that said that Iranians do not control the strait of Hormuz, the mission to guide stranded ships through the passageway does shows that the Trump administration ultimately “holds the cards”.
However, of the hundreds of stranded ships, only two US-flagged merchant vessels have “successfully transited” the strait, according to US Central Command (Centcom).
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Joint chiefs of the staff chair Dan Caine says Iran has continued to attack its neighbours, referring to yesterday’s strikes on Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking about Operation Freedom, he says Iran has fired at commercial vessels nie times and seized two container ships since the ceasefire was announced.
Caine says the Iranian attacks have all fallen below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point.
Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, is addressing reporters at a Pentagon press conference now. He’s discussing the latest developments on Project Freedom, and the ongoing naval blockade in the strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth, once again, threatened fierce retaliation if Iran attacks any US warships or commercial shipping throughout the vital waterway.
“To Iran, let innocent ships pass freely,” the defense secretary said. “These international waters belong to all nations, not to Iran, to tax toll or control, to our partner, partners, allies and the rest of the world.”
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Secretary of state Marco Rubio expects a “frank” meeting with Pope Leo during a visit to the Vatican this week, the US ambassador said on Tuesday.
“Nations have disagreements, and I think one of the ways that you work through those is ... through fraternity and authentic dialogue,” said Brian Burch, the US ambassador to the Holy See.
“I think the secretary is coming here in that spirit,” Burch told journalists. “To have a frank conversation about US policy, to engage in dialogue.“
Trump has repeatedly disparaged the first US-born pope in recent weeks, drawing a backlash from Christian leaders across the political spectrum.
Indiana voters go to the polls today in a test of the Republican party’s staying power after the party’s state lawmakers resisted Donald Trump’s bruising campaign to pressure them into redrawing the congressional districts.
The vote has turned into a statewide referendum on political retribution.
Seven state senators who voted against Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push now face challengers endorsed by the president, who said that “every one of these people should be “primaried,” after the effort failed.
Trump-aligned dark money groups have spent upwards of $7m on TV ads in Indiana this year, according to a tally from AdImpact – the majority spent targeting Republicans who allied themselves with Democrats in the December redistricting vote.
Greg Goode, a first-term Republican representative from Terre Haute, now faces a competitive race in district 38 against city council member Brenda Wilson – who received backing from both Mike Braun, Indiana’s governor, and Trump – as well as a third candidate, Alexandra Wilson, who shares her last name but bears no relation.
Goode voted against Trump’s redistricting push after hosting a town hall event in which 71 people spoke out against the revision and none spoke in favor.
Jim Buck, a state senator from Kokomo, also faces a Trump challenge, after 18 years in office.
“We’ve never had Washington meddle into our elections like they have this time,” Buck told NPR. “Now I’ve got over $1m against me in one race.”
One ad takes aim at the 80-year-old public servant by calling him “old, pathetic, liberal”.
Ohio voters head to polls to select candidates for midterm elections
Voters in Ohio on Tuesday are selecting candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections. The state is expected to play a major role in deciding whether Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans maintain control of Congress for the final two years of his term.
The race with the highest national profile is Ohio’s Senate special election, in which Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is vying to unseat the Republican incumbent, Jon Husted, and return to the chamber after failing to win re-election in 2024. The winner will serve the final two years of the term JD Vance won in 2022, before he became vice-president last year.
Republicans in north-west Ohio will also choose their party’s nominee to take on Democratic representative Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in congressional history whose district centered on Toledo has grown increasingly conservative under new maps a state redistricting commission approved last year.
Elsewhere on the ballot, Ohioans will select candidates to replace the Republican governor, Mike DeWine, who cannot run again because of term limits. Biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is the Republicans’ frontrunner, and former state health department director Amy Acton the leading Democrat.
Once a swing state that decided the 2004 presidential election for Republican George W Bush before Democrat Barack Obama carried it in both his election victories, Ohio has become increasingly Republican since Trump’s ascension as the leader of the Republicans.
Ohio heads to polls as Ramaswamy hopes to lock in as Republican candidate for governor
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping to lock in his position as candidate in the race to become Ohio governor.
Much of the Trump-endorsed biotech entrepreneur’s campaign has been spent focused on November’s election, as he positions himself for an expensive run against Dr Amy Acton, a former state health director running unopposed for the Democrats.
Contests on the ballots also will set the stage for Ohio’s third competitive US Senate race in the last four years, as well as a handful of US House races that are expected to be closely fought in the fall.
Every statewide executive office is open this year due to term limits, but the governor’s race has captured the bulk of the attention so far, AP reports.
Ramaswamy, a 2024 GOP primary presidential candidate, swept onto the state’s political scene early last year. Then-senator JD Vance was ascending to the vice presidency and front-running gubernatorial candidate Jon Husted was being appointed to replace him in Washington.
Though he is a newcomer in state politics, Ramaswamy’s national profile, tech industry connections and proximity to Trump landed him the Ohio Republican Party’s endorsement. With it, he cleared a prospective field that included the sitting state attorney general, state treasurer and lieutenant governor. But he still faces a long-shot challenge from car designer and YouTube provocateur Casey Putsch.
“[Ramaswamy] is a polarizing figure,” said Jessica Taylor, an analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which forecasts US elections.
“What certainly indicated to me that there’s just a likability problem for him was anytime you see a candidate’s first ad featuring their wife and children. It certainly looks like it’s trying to soften his image as a candidate.”
In other developments:
Donald Trump has threatened that Iran will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US vessels trying to reopen a route through the strait of Hormuz. The US launched an operation to help hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in the Gulf, dragging the region back to the brink of full-scale war. While the US military claimed to have destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted both Iranian cruise missiles and drones, this was denied by Iran. More here.
The Trump administration moved to block a lawsuit Minnesota officials filed almost six years ago alleging oil companies and a petroleum trade group deceived state residents about climate change. The justice department, the administration’s law enforcement arm, filed an action in federal court in Minneapolis arguing that the federal government has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, not states, and that Minnesota officials are trying to improperly impose their policy preferences on the rest of the country.
The US supreme court went out of its way to help Louisiana Republicans redraw their congressional maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The procedural move comes less than a week after the court’s landmark decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The Trump administration is continuing to pressure the United Nations and the international aid sector more broadly to adopt trade-focused policies to benefit US firms – or face the threat of further budget cuts. Donald Trump’s second term has already seen USAID suffer mass layoffs and have its remaining operations folded into the state department, with a ripple effect across the globe that has many experts warning will cost thousands of lives as vital programs are cut. More here.
The Trump administration’s attack on the 87-year-old food aid program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans escalated last week as the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, claimed that 14,000 Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (Snap) recipients included owners of luxury vehicles such as Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas. More here.
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