He further says that the statement he made on Thursday that "tyrants" are destroying the world - which American media in particular interpreted as a reference to Trump - had been written long before Trump commented on the Pope's message of peace.
"Yet it was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president," the Pope says.
Trump began his spat with the Pope on Sunday when he criticized the pontiff's sermon on peace as the Iran war rages on. The president has been heavily criticized for the attacks, as well as for the AI image of himself as Jesus that he shared on social media.
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