Pope Leo XIV's views on the Iran war have more support among Americans than do Donald Trump's

After a week in which Donald Trump and JD Vance clashed with Pope Leo XIV, the latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds more Americans like Leo than like either Trump or Vance, and more back the pope over the president and vice president in their dispute over the Iran war.

40% of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Trump, and 56% view him unfavorably — a net favorability of -16. That's similar to how Americans view Vance (37% favorable and 51% unfavorable, a net favorability of -14), and considerably worse than Leo (55% favorable and 24% unfavorable, a net favorability of +32).

Leo is much more popular than Trump among Democrats (+76 net favorability for Leo vs. -87 for Trump) and Independents (+35 vs. -28). Among Republicans, Leo is less popular than Trump (-13 vs. +66).

This is especially true among Republicans who say they are MAGA supporters (-27 net favorability for Leo vs. +88 for Trump). Non-MAGA Republicans are more closely divided (+14 vs. +25).

Among Catholics, 63% have a favorable opinion of Leo and 20% an unfavorable opinion, a net favorability of +43. That's far higher than Trump's net favorability of +5 among Catholics. Leo is less well-liked than Trump among Catholic Republicans (+15 net favorability for Leo vs. +71 for Trump).

The Economist and YouGov showed respondents three remarks Leo had made recently:

• "May diplomacy recover its role and may the good of peoples be promoted, peoples who long for peaceful coexistence founded on justice. And let us continue to pray for peace."
• "Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!"
• "Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue."

Majorities of Americans agree with the three statements. 73% agree and 8% disagree with the call for "diplomacy" to "recover its role"; 65% agree and 14% disagree with the appeal to "stop the spiral of violence"; and 64% agree and 16% disagree that "stability and peace are not built with mutual threats."

Almost all Democrats and most Independents agree with each statement. More Republicans agree than disagree with each statement, with non-MAGA Republicans more likely than MAGA Republicans to agree.

In general, 48% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Leo's statements about Iran, twice as many as the 24% who disapprove.

48% of Americans agree more with Leo about the war in Iran, while 28% agree more with Trump and Vance. Almost all Democrats side with the pope (85% agree more with Leo and 4% more with Trump and Vance), as do half of Independents (50% vs. 15%), while most Republicans side with Trump and Vance (10% vs. 66%). Both MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans are more likely to side with Trump and Vance than with the pope.

Among Protestants, 39% agree more with Leo and 44% more with Trump and Vance, while among Catholics, 42% take Leo's side and 31% side with Trump and Vance.

The Economist and YouGov also showed respondents an AI picture Trump posted to social media — and then deleted — depicting him in robes, laying a glowing hand on a sick man.

Only 11% of Americans say they like the image. 48% say they hate it, and 23% say they dislike it but don't think it's important.

The share who dislike or hate the image exceeds the share who like it among Democrats (88% vs. 2%), Independents (76% vs. 6%), and Republicans (49% vs. 27%). MAGA Republicans are evenly split over the image (38% vs. 36%), while most non-MAGA Republicans dislike or hate it (72% vs. 9%).

Americans who attend religious services more frequently are less likely to hate the image than are those who attend less often. But religious Americans are also more likely than non-religious Americans to be conservatives and to support Trump.

Looking just among self-identified conservatives, 67% of those who attend religious services weekly or more dislike or hate the image, compared to 51% of those who attend once or twice a month or a few times per year, and 48% of those who seldom or never attend religious services.

This poll found 38% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 54% disapprove — a net job approval of -16. Over the past three weeks, Trump has averaged a -17 net approval. His net approval is higher than in recent weeks, but still in the same general area as Trump's net approval has been for months.

Image: Getty (Win McNamee / Staff)

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