{"id":15029,"date":"2026-05-14T14:28:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=15029"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:28:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:28:00","slug":"pastor-robert-jefress-lauds-president-trumps-understanding-of-biblical-government-over-pope-leo-xiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2026\/05\/pastor-robert-jefress-lauds-president-trumps-understanding-of-biblical-government-over-pope-leo-xiv.html","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Robert Jefress Lauds President Trump\u2019s Understanding of Biblical Government Over Pope Leo XIV"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gage Skidmore Flickr | Inset: The White House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A megachurch pastor has gone on record claiming that President Trump\u2019s understanding of the Biblical role of government surpasses that of Pope Leo XIV. Pastor Robert Jefress of First Baptist Dallas went on \u201cFox News Live<\/a>\u201d just a few days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended a meeting with the Pope. \u201cThe Pope is a good man, he\u2019s sincere in his faith, but he\u2019s sincerely wrong when it comes to Iran. It looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches than the Pope,\u201d said Jefress. He referred to Romans 13, stating that \u201cThe role of government is to protect citizens from evildoers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media shared its thoughts about Jefress\u2019s comments. \u201cThe Baptist pastor and many other evangelicals like him were fed with lies by the WH and they swallowed them up! Worst still, their church leaders and members approve of them!! God have mercy,\u201d wrote one user on X<\/a>. \u201cNeither one truly understands what the Bible says. First and foremost the president compared himself to Jesus Christ? That is the most blasphemous thing that anyone can say. And the pope calls himself the holy Father? There is only one holy Father and that is GOD,\u201d wrote another<\/a>. \u201c\u2018It looks like President Trump has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches than the Pope\u2019 One might have assumed this @FoxNews segment was a parody\u2026 Perish the thought \u2014 Pastor Robert Jeffress delivered his absurd claim, \u2018serious as a pope.\u2019 Truly,\u201d said one more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tensions continue between the Vatican and the White House. President Trump has refused to apologize for comments he made calling Pope Leo XIV \u201cweak.\u201d \u201cHe was very much against what I\u2019m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result. I think he\u2019s very weak on crime and other things, so I\u2019m not [going to apologize,]\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cHe went public. I\u2019m just responding to Pope Leo.\u201d The Pope, too, has refused to withdraw from his stance against the war. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for. I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems,\u201d he said. Jefress, too, has been supportive of the President over the Pope, defending President Trump\u2019s previous comments against Pope Leo XIV. \u201cWhat the president said was absolutely correct,\u201d he once told Religion News<\/em>. \u00a0\u201cPope Leo apparently doesn\u2019t have a biblical understanding of what the government\u2019s role is in protecting its citizens from those who would do us harm both from within and without our country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A megachurch pastor has gone on record claiming that President Trump\u2019s understanding of the Biblical role of government surpasses that of Pope Leo XIV. Pastor Robert Jefress of First Baptist Dallas went on \u201cFox News Live\u201d just a few days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended a meeting with the Pope. \u201cThe Pope is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":15032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPastor Robert Jefress Lauds President Trump\u2019s Understanding of Biblical Government Over Pope Leo XIV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pastor Robert Jeffress says Trump understands the Bible\u2019s role of government better than Pope Leo XIV, fueling backlash and debate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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