Pope Leo XIV has taken a swipe at Donald Trump when asked about the president’s attempt to ban three media outlets from the White House.
While taking questions from reporters aboard a flight to France, the pontiff was asked what he thought about Trump trying to revoke the credentials of CNN, MS NOW and Politico for writing negative coverage of the president.
“I am very happy that here, you are all welcome,” he said. “Good coverage, I think, is very important and that we have it all the way around, for everyone.”
It is not the first time the pope has spoken out about the importance of a free and independent media. In 2025, the pontiff called for the release of journalists imprisoned worldwide and praised the “precious gift of free speech and the press.”
On Thursday, a judge ordered the White House to immediately restore press credentials for MS NOW, CNN and Politico after the news organizations filed a lawsuit claiming the ban violated the First Amendment.
However, the Trump administration continued its feud with what it refers to as the “fake news” media.
Reporters from CNN and MS NOW said they were denied access to cover Trump’s lavish state dinner at the White House for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The White House defended the media blackout, with its Rapid Response X account posting, “contrary to what the Fake News wants you to believe, they don’t just get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call.” CNN and MS NOW said they had submitted their reporters’ names for credentials to cover those arriving for the state dinner.
Pope Leo and Trump have frequently clashed over the president’s deeply unpopular war in Iran, which has dragged on for nearly seven months with no end in sight.
In one Truth Social meltdown, Trump declared the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” The president has also suggested the pontiff was “endangering a lot of Catholics” by opposing the Iran war and not preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do so with the truth: the church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, there is no doubt about that,” the pope said in May.
“I simply hope to be listened to because of the value of God’s word.”
