ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Müller has issued a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s broadside against Pope Leo XIV, decrying his comments as “unacceptable” while arguing that Trump “believes himself to be omnipotent.”
In an April 15 interview with Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, Müller did not spare criticism of Trump and the message he posted on Truth Social against Pope Leo on April 12.
“The attack on Pope Leo XIV? Unacceptable. Trump now believes himself to be omnipotent, but only God is,” Müller charged. “The Catholic Church is and must remain independent from every political power.”
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When the journalist reminded him of the initial support he had shown toward Trump in the aftermath of his election in January 2025, Müller replied: “Yes, it is true. When Trump was elected I said: better a good Protestant than a bad Catholic, but I said it because his predecessor, the Catholic Biden, had strongly supported abortion, contrary to our doctrine. Trump showed he wanted to support religious freedom and Catholic schools in the beginning.”
Now, however, something has changed, Müller stressed. Trump “does not understand that the Church and its Pope have as their mission to transmit the Gospel and to work for peace, freedom, and the good of peoples. Not to do politics.”
Referring to Trump’s argument that the motivations behind then-Cardinal Prevost’s election to the papacy was an anti-American maneuver, Müller replied that, in his view, the American president “would like to instrumentalize the Church, to put it at his service. And he thought that, since the Pope is American, he must necessarily be on his side. I repeat, it is unacceptable.”
“And in any case,” he added, “American Catholics too are with the Holy Father.”
Regarding the language chosen by Pope Leo XIV against migration policies and the war pursued by the American government, Müller expressed no doubts: “The Pope has the right to publicly criticize even one of the most powerful men in the world, because the Vicar of Christ and the Church are at the service of God alone. Independence of thought and action from all earthly powers is our strength.”
The journalist also pointed out to the cardinal that, during Biden’s tenure, the Church under the leadership of Pope Francis was not equally firm in criticizing, “for example, [Biden’s] positions on abortion, gender, and euthanasia.”
“It is true, and it was a mistake,” Müller admitted. “One cannot remain silent in the face of such important errors. As in the face of so many dictators in the world who oppress and kill their peoples.”
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The German prelate also pointed out that the clash, although sensational, is not without historical precedents. “It is like in the time of Constantine or Napoleon,” he said. “The emperor who, after the persecutions, had granted freedom of worship to Christians, then wanted to intervene directly in the affairs of the Church; but Catholics could not (and cannot) pay for the good things received with the loss of independence.” History, therefore, is marked by a constant: “The emperor falls and the pope returns free, and with him the Church.”
This lesson, Müller argued, is one that “the U.S. president should learn, because earthly powers pass away. That of the Church does not, because it comes from God.”
Finally, Müller also spent a few words praising the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, for having openly defended Pope Leo XIV. “Giorgia Meloni is an excellent politician,” he said. “Italy has three thousand years of culture behind it. The USA cannot impose its worldview on everyone.”