WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, saying he didn’t think the US-born global leader of the Catholic Church is “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person,” while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left”.

Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo, then kept it up after deplaning, in comments on the tarmac to reporters.

“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.