Senate

Tillis says Trump should apologize to pope: ‘When you’re wrong, you’re wrong’

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/16/26 7:51 AM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/16/26 7:51 AM ET

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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Wednesday said President Trump should apologize to Pope Leo XIV following their public spat over the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, adding that “when you’re wrong, you’re wrong.”

“To say soft on crime or soft on the border, that’s what you say to an opponent in the next election,” Tillis told NBC News in an interview, referring to comments Trump has made about the pope. “Or, you know, maybe a presidential or prime minister candidate in some other country, but not to the pope of the Catholic Church.”

He later added that apologies are “underused in art and politics.”

“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong, or if you made a mistake, or maybe it was just a misconception, just get past it. Move on,” the North Carolina Republican continued. “This president has done so many positive things that I want to focus on.”

Tillis, who is not running for reelection, added that the president views the pontiff as a “political leader.”

“Maybe he is at some level, but he’s also the head of the Catholic Church, and he is speaking the very same things that he would speak at church, whether or not this Iranian conflict was going on,” the senator added.

Trump has previously refused to offer an apology for his rhetoric.

Tillis also accepted the president’s explanation for a now-deleted AI-generated image depicting Trump as a Christ-like figure that was posted to Truth Social on Sunday. Trump said the following day that he thought the controversial image showed him to be a “doctor.” The post garnered backlash from conservatives and Christians before it was pulled down.

“I worry less about the post,” Tillis said. “I think he took it down, and I think that’s an acknowledgment that it was probably something that should have never been posted. I’ll take at face value his confusion with it being a doctor.”

The president and pope have disagreed over several actions carried out by the U.S. military abroad this year, including the Iran war and the lead-up to the Trump administration’s capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. Leo encouraged the U.S. and Venezuela to hold a dialogue amid escalating tensions.

The pope has been outspoken against the Middle East conflict, urging peace and denouncing attacks on civilians. Trump on Sunday blasted him as being “weak” on crime and claimed that Leo, the first U.S. citizen chosen by the papal conclave to lead the Catholic Church, would not be in his position if he were not in the White House.

Leo told reporters on Wednesday despite their differences, both leaders can “live in peace together.”

“I think that to promote that kind of image is something which the world needs to hear today,” the pope said on his plane, according to CNN.

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