New pope appears to have reposted critical social media posts about Trump and Vance

Robert Prevost appears to have previously reposted social media entries that could cause friction with the White House.

The newly elected American pope, Robert Prevost, appears to have previously reposted social media posts critical of Vice President JD Vance and the immigration policies of President Donald Trump — views that were in line with his predecessor and could cause friction with the White House. An X account listed under Prevost’s name did not appear to personally write any of the critical posts, but reposted articles and headlines from others. CNN has reached out to the Vatican, X and friends of Prevost, but has not been able to independently confirm the X account is connected to the newly elected Pope Leo XIV. Trump said Thursday he was “very happy” about news of the first American pope. It was unclear if he had been told about the apparently critical social media posts, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment about the posts. Vance’s office pointed to a statement the vice president had made earlier, when he posted his congratulations on X. The posts took aim at past comments from Vance accusing the far left of caring more for migrants than American citizens, as well as the Trump administration’s wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an undocumented immigrant who was residing in Maryland before he was sent to a Salvadoran prison. The latter was the subject of the most recent critical repost. On April 14, the account reposted an article regarding Abrego Garcia and a piece written by Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar of Washington, DC. The bishop argued: “The federal government has pursued a ‘shock and awe’ campaign of aggressive threats and highly visible operations of questionable legality that go far beyond mere immigration ‘enforcement.’” A judge has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. Before that, on Feb. 13, the account shared a letter by former Pope Francis in which he condemned the Trump administration’s mass deportations. Francis especially criticized deporting those who have fled their homelands due to poverty, exploitation and persecution, as damaging to the dignity of men and women.