Pope says 'tyrants' speech was not aimed at Trump

Pope Leo says he was not seeking to debate Donald Trump when he criticised "tyrants" for spending billions on wars in a speech earlier this week. The pontiff said the remarks, delivered days after a high-profile spat with the US president, had been written a fortnight earlier – "well before the president ever commented on myself". "And yet as it ha...

Pope Leo says he was not seeking to debate Donald Trump when he criticised "tyrants" for spending billions on wars in a speech earlier this week.

The pontiff said the remarks, delivered days after a high-profile spat with the US president, had been written a fortnight earlier – "well before the president ever commented on myself".

"And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate, again, the president, which is not in my interest at all," he told reporters aboard a flight to Angola on Saturday.

On Monday, Trump launched a scathing attack on the first American Pope – who has been a vocal critic of the US-Israeli military operation in Iran – as "terrible for foreign policy".