New trial over Maradona's death begins in Argentina

The father of tech billionaire Elon Musk is working on a project to provide refugee status in Russia for South African farmers, he told AFP on Tuesday, in a project similar to one by the US government.

The initiative would resettle 50 families from the white Afrikaans minority, descendants of the first Dutch settlers, according to a Russian official.

The same group of South Africans have been offered refugee status by the government of US President Donald Trump, which has falsely claimed they face persecution under the post-apartheid government.

Nearly 5,000 white Afrikaners have entered the United States as refugees since Trump took office in January last year and all but halted refugee programmes for every other group.

The US programme has angered the South African government which denies any discrimination.

Contacted by AFP by telephone on Tuesday, Errol Musk told AFP from Moscow: "It's about providing refugee status to South African farmers."

– 50 families –

Musk, who regularly visits Russia and attended an April 12 Orthodox Easter mass in Moscow in the presence of President Vladimir Putin, did not give details of the project.

In an interview with Russian media Gubernia 33, he justified the project by claiming white Afrikaner farmers were being targeted for murder, allegations strongly denied in South Africa.

Washington made similar claims in its justification for encouraging Afrikaners to resettle in the United States.

The governor of the Vladimir region which borders the Moscow region, Aleksandr Avdeyev, said last week that he had discussed the project with Musk.

"We discussed the development of agriculture and the prospects for settling 50 Dutch-origin families from South Africa," he said on Telegram.

While Afrikaners have been emigrating to Russia since at least 2018, according to reports, Musk's involvement appears to be new information.

Now in his late 70s, he is a polarising figure. 

In an interview with CNN late last year, he rejected there had been racial oppression under apartheid, a harsh system of segregation which denied the black majority basic rights.

Elon Musk, who left South Africa in his late teens, regularly accuses the government of racism, particularly over its failure to grant his Starlink internet provider a licence.

In a new outburst on social media this weekend, he said: "South Africa won't allow Starlink to be licensed, even though I was BORN THERE, simply because I am not Black!"

South African laws designed to rebalance apartheid-era discrimination require large companies to be at least 30-percent owned by people from previously disadvantaged communities.

Elon Musk was peddling "lies and disinformation", President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesman responded on X.

- Puzzling -

Errol Musk's Russia project was "puzzling", said Friedrich von Treskow, a former researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, who has worked on Russian influence in southern Africa. 

Pretoria and Moscow have close ties that date back to the struggle against apartheid, when the Soviet Union provided support to the African National Congress and its military wing.

"It could create tensions with Pretoria," von Treskow told AFP of Musk senior's scheme.

"Pretoria has been very reluctant to criticise Russia on any issue whatsoever."

Ramaphosa in February expressed "heartfelt gratitude" to Putin for agreeing to facilitate the return of more than a dozen men lured into fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

Fifteen of them have since returned.

Last month, the Forbidden Stories investigative media outlet reported that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula had in December 2024 thanked Russian influence agents for their "assistance" before the general election earlier that year. 

He also "requested" at a secret meeting $300,000 to fund an ANC party congress. 

Mbalula, among the men tipped to replace Ramaphosa as head of the party, which could put him in the running for president, rejected the claims as "unfounded" and "part of a disinformation campaign."

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European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Tuesday she would not leave her post early as the global economy faces a severe storm, insisting: "This captain is not going to leave the ship."

Media reports emerged earlier this year that Lagarde may step down before the end of her term in October 2027, claims she had already sought to downplay.

But, with the eurozone being hit hard by the Iran war energy shock, she issued a firmer denial in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.

"When there (are) big clouds on the horizon, the captain does not leave the ship," she told Bloomberg TV. 

"And this captain is not going to leave the ship."

"When you see major disruptions, the energy supply being reduced, when you see threats to growth, upside risks to inflation -- these are serious matters that we have to be attentive to," she said.

The Financial Times previously reported that by departing early, Lagarde would give the French and German leaders a chance to determine her replacement ahead of French elections. 

France's far-right, eurosceptic National Rally (RN) is seen as having a chance of winning power in the polls.

The outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran has sent oil and gas prices soaring, a major burden for the eurozone as it relies on energy imports, and economists have downgraded their growth forecasts for the region.

Analysts have raised their bets on the ECB hiking interest rates as soon as this month to keep inflation in check, although Lagarde would not be drawn on what decision the central bank might make.

She also welcomed the victory in Hungary's weekend elections of pro-European politician Peter Magyar, who defeated nationalist leader Viktor Orban, and signs he is keen on Hungary adopting the euro.

"I'm delighted that he's looking at it with a very positive approach," Lagarde said, while stressing that the process of joining the single currency could take some time.

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The United States and Israel may have obstructed the path towards a future Iran-built nuclear bomb by severely damaging the Islamic republic's nuclear and ballistic capabilities in recent attacks.

But they have not succeeded in seizing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, key to any future negotiations between Washington and Tehran, experts and diplomatic sources told AFP.

One of US President Donald Trump's justifications for the war he launched was an accusation -- denied by Tehran -- that Iran was developing an atomic bomb. Trump has repeatedly vowed to never allow the country to possess a nuclear weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, has stated that the previous war waged against Iran, a 12-day conflict in June 2025, as well as the current one "wiped out" Iran's nuclear programme.

But two European diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed caution about the future of Iran's atomic ambitions. 

Immediately following the June 2025 strikes, "we were told the programme had been set back by several years, before the figure was revised to just several months", one source noted. 

"Iran is no longer a threshold power as it once was," an Israeli diplomatic source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

A "threshold" state has the expertise, resources and facilities needed to develop a nuclear weapon on short notice should it choose to.

The source argued that, in addition to the infrastructure damage suffered, Iran's know-how "has been seriously undermined by the elimination of the scientists and officials" and the targeting of universities "where the data centres containing Iran's expertise were located".

- 'Substantial setback' - 

"Overall, this conflict has set back Iran's nuclear programme substantially," said Spencer Faragasso of the Institute for Science and International Security, a US think tank that monitors Iran's nuclear programme.

"It will take a significant amount of time, investment, and resources to reconstitute all of those lost capabilities," he said. 

However, "the gains from the conflict are not permanent by any means". 

Tehran still possesses a significant quantity of uranium enriched both to 60 percent, close to the 90-percent level required to make an atomic bomb, as well as a stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent, another critical threshold. 

Prior to the US strikes in June 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) calculated that Iran possessed approximately 440 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent, well above the 3.67-percent limit set by a 2015 agreement from which the United States subsequently withdrew.

Since June 2025, the fate of this stockpile has remained uncertain, with Tehran refusing access to IAEA inspectors at the sites ravaged by US and Israeli strikes. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has repeatedly called for the return of international experts.

- Removing enriched uranium -

Part of the stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) is believed to remain buried in the tunnels at the Isfahan site in central Iran.

"At least 220 kilogrammes – roughly half of Iran's declared stockpile of 60 percent HEU – is believed to be stored in the underground tunnel complex at Isfahan," said Faragasso.

"The status of the other half is unclear, but we believe it is buried under the rubble at Fordow as large significant quantities of 60 percent HEU were produced prior to the June 2025 war," he said.

Only an independent inspection would be able to dispel these doubts.

The issue is how this uranium could be removed from Iranian territory under any eventual accord. 

Russia reiterated on Monday that it remained ready to accept Iranian enriched uranium on its soil as part of any potential peace agreement between Washington and Tehran.

"This proposal was put forward by President (Vladimir) Putin during contacts with the United States and with countries in the region," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in response to a question from AFP.

But that scenario is a red line for the Europeans in view of the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than four years.

Moscow and Tehran are cooperating on nuclear matters through Iran's Bushehr power plant, built and operated with Russian assistance for civilian purposes.

The Iranians "don't have an ability to enrich uranium anymore... So it means they cannot build a nuclear bomb at the moment," said Danny Orbach of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

"But they still have the enriched material, which is the hardest thing to obtain," he said.

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The Czech culture minister angered the opposition and media freedom watchdogs with a plan presented Tuesday to fund public media from the state budget instead of fees paid by citizens.

Opponents argue the bill, due to take effect in 2027, would harm the independence of Czech TV and Czech Radio and make them vulnerable to influence by the government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

More than 200,000 people rallied against Babis's government in Prague in March, with the media bill among their grudges.

"Our proposal cancels the outdated system of TV and radio licence fees," Culture Minister Oto Klempir told reporters.

Klempir, a former rapper from the small rightwing eurosceptic Motorists party, insisted the new law had protections preventing politicians from meddling with the public media programme.

Klempir said that, while the two outlets' budget would shrink between 2026 and 2027, the sum would annually be indexed to inflation, up to five percent, to "guarantee absolute independence".

The bill must now be approved by the cabinet and both chambers of parliament before being signed into law by the president to take effect on January 1, 2027, as planned.

Babis's three-party nationalist government vowed to cancel the licence fees when it took office last December.

Critics have accused Babis of trying to restrict media's independence in a similar fashion as his allies, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Viktor Orban, Hungary's outgoing premier who lost weekend elections. 

"The government... is slowly but surely wiping out public media," Martin Kupka, head of the rightwing opposition Civic Democrats, said on X.

Pavol Szalai, head of the Prague office of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) watchdog, told AFP financing from the state budget threatened to "weaken the independence of the two outlets".

"We do not think the pledge to index the payment by up to five percent is a sufficient guarantee," he added.

Earlier this year, RSF spoke out against "any transition to state budget funding without equivalent safeguards and political consensus between government and opposition".

Coalition lawmakers will also submit a proposal to exempt Czechs aged up to 26 and over 75 as well as companies from paying the licence fees before the media law takes effect.

"It's a chaos which the government presents as a strategy," said Szalai.

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Large banks reported higher profits Tuesday, pointing to resilience among US businesses and customers despite higher oil prices from the Middle East war.

JPMorgan Chase notched gains across leading consumer and investment bank categories.

CEO Jamie Dimon described the US economy as still healthy but facing an "increasingly complex set of risks," including volatile energy prices, trade uncertainty and large deficits.

Profits at the largest US lender by assets came in at $16.5 billion, up 13 percent from the year-ago level, while revenues jumped 10 percent to $49.8 billion.

The spike in oil prices has translated into national gasoline prices above $4 a gallon for the first time since August 2022, a political headwind for US President Donald Trump.

While higher gasoline prices pose a greater strain on lower income households, Dimon said a solid US employment market remained a supporting factor.

"Always the most important thing is jobs," Dimon said. "And there's plenty of jobs. Unemployment is relatively low."

Some of the drivers of JPMorgan's higher profit were increased consumer deposits and credit card balances that more than not offset the impact of lower interest rates. 

At Citigroup, profits climbed 42 percent to $5.8 billion, while revenues rose 14 percent to $24.6 billion.

The lender enjoyed broad-based growth across its businesses, led by its markets and services divisions. But the bank raised its provision for credit losses by about $600 million, citing increased uncertainty in the macroeconomic outlook.

Chief Financial Officer Gonzalo Luchetti described the US consumer as resilient, noting a stable level of delinquent payments over time.

The increased reserves are "really out of prudence that we want to make sure that we are always well reserved for a range of environments," Luchetti said on a conference call with reporters.

Wells Fargo reported first-quarter profits of $5.2 billion, up seven percent from the year-ago level. Revenues rose six percent to $21.4 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf attributed the higher profits to increased loans and deposits, also describing client credit as solid.

"While markets have been volatile, we still see continued resiliency in the underlying economy and the financial health of the consumers and businesses we serve remains strong, though the impact of higher oil prices will likely take some time to materialize," Scharf said. 

"We will continue to monitor trends and respond accordingly."

- Private credit -

A looming question around this earnings cycle has been anxiety in financial circles over private credit after a wave of redemption requests to investment giants in recent weeks.

In October, Dimon issued a colorful warning on the topic after the bankruptcy of Tricolor, a subprime auto lender, saying, "when you see one cockroach, there are probably more."

Dimon expressed measured concern Tuesday, saying that in general, private credit quality has not deteriorated significantly, although "there are pockets where it has," he told an analyst conference call.

"So we'll be watching it closely," Dimon said. "The big point to me is...that I don't think it's systemic," he said.

Dimon's comments were consistent with those Monday by Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon, who expects greater losses with the turn in the credit cycle when there is a recession or another triggering event.

In mid-morning trading, JPMorgan shares dipped 0.9 percent, while Citi climbed 1.0 percent. Wells Fargo, which missed analyst estimates on revenues and some other benchmarks, dropped 6.3 percent.

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A new trial over the death of football legend Diego Maradona began Tuesday in Argentina, 10 months after a scandal involving a judge caused the first trial to collapse.

Maradona, considered one of the world's greatest players, died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from surgery for a brain clot.

His seven-strong medical team is accused of gross negligence causing his death over the conditions of his home convalescence.

He died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- two weeks after going under the knife and enduring hours of agony, according to forensic experts.

Two months into the first trial last year, after hours of sometimes tearful testimony from witnesses, including Maradona's children, the proceedings were thrown into flux by revelations involving one of the three judges.

The judge, Julieta Makintach, was discovered to have taken part in a clandestine documentary about the case, which contained unauthorized recordings made inside the courtroom.

The trial was annulled over the scandal.

The new trial, which will hear from some 120 witnesses, will again seek to determine if Maradona's medical team is responsible for his death.

Maradona's daughters, Dalma, Gianinna, and Jana, as well as his former partner Veronica Ojeda, were present in the packed courtroom in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro for the opening of the proceedings.

Defense lawyer Francisco Oneto asked that the entire trial be broadcast live on television, instead of merely the first day and day of the verdict as currently planned.

The accused doctors, psychologists and nurses are accused of homicide with possible intent -- pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death -- over the decisions they made regarding Maradona's care.

They risk prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted.

The defense maintains the larger-than-life Argentine, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, died of natural causes. 

"If there's one thing that has been ruled out, it's a malicious criminal plan to kill Maradona," Vadim Mischanchuk, lawyer for psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, told Radio Con Vos at the weekend. 

The trial is expected to last until July at the earliest. 

The passing of the star of the 1986 World Cup plunged Argentina into mourning in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands of people queued to bid farewell to the former Boca Juniors and Napoli striker as his body lay in state at the presidential palace.

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The IMF cut its 2026 global growth projection Tuesday, warning that the world economy could be "thrown off course" by war in the Middle East -- as the conflict roils commodity markets and sparks higher prices.

The global economy is set to grow by 3.1 percent this year, said the International Monetary Fund in its World Economic Outlook report, released during its spring meetings in Washington.

This is down from 3.3 percent forecast in January before hostilities erupted February 28 with US-Israeli strikes against Iran that prompted Tehran's retaliation and sparked a broader conflict in the region.

"We were planning to upgrade growth for 2026 to 3.4 percent" if not for the war, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP.

Prices of oil, gas and fertilizers have surged, as Iran virtually blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping waterway. US President Donald Trump has also ordered a naval blockade around Iran's ports.

The IMF expects higher inflation this year at 4.4 percent, 0.6 percentage points above its January forecast.

Still the impact of oil shortages could be worse. 

Compared to the oil shocks of the 1970s, "the global economy is much less oil dependent now than it was back then," Gourinchas said at a Tuesday press conference.

"There are many other sources of energy, renewables, nuclear and other things, and also the global economy has become much more efficient in terms of how much it needs oil to produce GDP," he said. "That's a source of resilience."

After this the "disinflation path" of recent years should reassert itself, Gourinchas said.

But these projections assume a relatively short-lived conflict with temporary energy market disruptions.

In more adverse scenarios where energy prices remain steep, global growth could slow to 2.5 percent or even around 2.0 percent.

"This latest shock comes less than a year since the shift in US trade policies, and the transition to a new international trade system is still ongoing," the IMF said.

A year ago, Trump unleashed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, rocking financial markets and snarling supply chains.

Some of the tariffs have been struck down by the Supreme Court, but uncertainty lingers as Trump moves to reimpose duties via other means.

- Uneven impact -

Although overall revisions to global growth and inflation appear modest, the IMF cautioned that the war has taken a bigger toll on the Middle East and "vulnerable economies" elsewhere.

"The impact on emerging market and developing economies would be almost twice that on advanced economies," the fund said.

Higher energy and fertilizer costs could bring steeper food prices, mainly hitting low-income energy importers, Gourinchas said.

Growth projections this year for the Middle East and central Asia were cut by around half to 1.9 percent.

Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's biggest economy, is set to see 3.1 percent growth this year, down 1.4 percentage points from January's expectation.

Among the world's two biggest economies, US growth is still set to accelerate to 2.3 percent this year, although the pace of growth was revised slightly lower.

"The US at the margin is benefiting from higher energy prices," Gourinchas said. But gasoline prices have also jumped for consumers.

China's growth is anticipated to cool to 4.4 percent, a touch below the January forecast, too.

The IMF flagged an underlying "unevenness" in both economies.

Domestic activity lags behind exports in China, while a strong showing in the United States has been accompanied by low employment growth.

Euro area growth was revised 0.2 points down to 1.1 percent for 2026.

While the IMF does not expect inflation expectations to go off-track, there is concern they may not be as well-anchored as before.

Past inflation episodes remain fresh in the public's minds, and firms might act to restore margins more quickly than before.

"If that happens, then you can get much more persistent inflation going on, that would be reflected in higher inflation expectations," Gourinchas said.

Central banks might then need to step in and raise interest rates to cool the economy, despite ongoing negative supply shocks.

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(The Center Square) – Kansas lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of Senate Bill 462 during the recent veto session, enacting a measure supporters say will limit the use of courts to advance political agendas.

The Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate both voted to override the veto, letting the bill become law despite the governor’s objections.

The legislation focuses on public nuisance law and who can bring certain lawsuits. It limits the ability to file broad public nuisance claims and gives more power to the state attorney general in cases that extend beyond a single local jurisdiction.

Supporters say the change is necessary to prevent what they call lawfare. It happens when organizations file lawsuits to push policy goals they cannot pass through the legislature.

“This is a monumental win for consumers,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance for Consumers Action, said in a statement provided to The Center Square. “We have seen ideological activists try and hijack the direction of our country by invading corporate boardrooms, classrooms, and hospitals. What is less well known is that the same left-wing campaign to reshape our society has set out to invade our courtrooms too.”

“By using lawfare to force their agenda, activists are able to circumvent the lawmakers and voters who have refused to go along with an activist, ideological agenda,” Skinner added. “Kansas lawmakers have made it clear that policymaking belongs to elected representatives, not activists attempting to weaponize the court system for political purposes.”

Backers of the bill argue that public nuisance lawsuits have increasingly been used to target entire industries, including energy producers, firearms manufacturers, and other lawful businesses. The new law blocks lawsuits that attempt to label lawful products as a public nuisance and requires a more direct connection between harm and legal claims.

It also includes sections aimed at limiting lawsuits from individuals injured while committing crimes, preventing them from seeking damages tied to their own illegal actions.

Kelly said the measure would shift power away from local governments and concentrate power at the state level.

“This bill would transfer the underlying authority from the locals to the Attorney General,” Kelly said in her veto message. “There is no good reason for this usurpation of power.”

SB 462 is part of a growing effort across multiple states to restrict the use of public nuisance laws in policy disputes. States like Utah and Indiana have approved similar measures. 

Supporters say the goal is to return policymaking to elected officials rather than the courts.

Opponents argue the changes could make it harder for local governments and consumers to challenge harmful practices through the legal system.

(The Center Square) – A strike at Los Angeles Unified School District was averted at the last minute following a tentative agreement with SEIU Local 99.

The union said it secured “gains for workers and student services.”

SEIU Local 99 was the last of three unions wanting a new deal to reach a tentative agreement, which was announced early Tuesday. The other unions on board with a tentative agreement are United Teachers Los Angeles and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Teamsters.

LAUSD, the nation's second-largest school district, was still negotiating with Service Employees International Union Local 99 as of Monday afternoon. Had a tentative agreement not been announced, a strike would have happened on Tuesday.

 “A strike was always the last resort, and we are proud that we could work with the school district and Mayor Karen Bass to reach an agreement that recognizes the contributions of front-line workers in our schools,” said Max Arias, SEIU Local 99 Executive Director in an email to media.

Terms of the tentative agreement include a 24% wage increase that SEIU said “will make a significant difference in workers’ livelihoods." Health care benefits will be expanded for teacher assistants, after school workers, and community representatives. Meanwhile, layoffs for hundreds of IT Technicians are being rescinded, and LAUSD will have no subcontracting of work to outside vendors.

SEIU Local 99 members must still vote to ratify the agreement, but Arias is pleased with the terms.

“This agreement was won through the bold action and courage of thousands of workers who were willing to sacrifice to improve conditions in their schools and their lives,” said Arias.

Gina Gray, a high school English teacher and UTLA member, said Monday that if SEIU Local 99 did not reach a tentative agreement, her union would stand in solidarity with their “brothers and sisters” at Local 99.

“We will not cross their lines,” Gray told The Center Square.

The tentative agreement reached with UTLA would increase their members’ salary scales by 11.65%. The tentative agreement would also increase the beginning salary for a teacher to $77,000 per year.

Gray called it a step in the right direction, adding that UTLA is "happy with the tentative agreement."

In a press release, LAUSD said that “schools are open today, Tuesday, April 14.” The district also stated that it is pleased with the agreements, adding LAUSD and SEIU Local 99 officials will continue to work together to finalize their agreement.

“We are proud to have reached resolution with all of our Labor partners — UTLA, SEIU and AALA Teamsters Local 2010 — ensuring stability for our schools and continuity for the students and families we serve,” Acting Superintendent Andrés E. Chait said in a press release. ”Our commitments reflect the dedication of our entire workforce.”

Chait added that LAUSD is “clear-eyed about the challenges ahead” and understands that meeting those challenges requires trust, shared responsibility, and a focus on the students who matter most. 

President Donald Trump's dismissal of Pope Leo XIV as "weak" and "wrong" marked an unprecedented personal attack on a pontiff by a US leader that capped months of tension.

The election of the first ever US pontiff in May 2025, one who pressed the cause of international law and the rights of migrants, seemed destined to set up a clash, but for a long time they managed their differences.

Since January, however, US military action in Venezuela, threats against Cuba and Greenland and then the Iran war have drawn increasing statements of concern from the Vatican.

On Sunday, Trump launched a blistering attack on the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, calling him "weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy". He doubled down Monday, repeating: "He's wrong."

"Tensions regularly arise between the Catholic Church and states on a number of issues," said Francois Mabille, head of France's Geopolitical Observatory of Religion.

"What's unprecedented here is that the figure of the pope is being attacked as such... that he's being judged weak, and that this is being done by the American president with such vehemence," Mabille told AFP.

- Tipped the scales -

An expert in canon law, Leo has repeatedly emphasised the importance of upholding international law, including criticising Israel's actions in Gaza last year.

But he often spoke in generalisations, leaving more pointed criticism to local clergy, from Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa in Jerusalem to US cardinals.

One exception was when he hit out at the "inhuman" treatment of migrants in his home country. The White House responded with a measured comment defending its policies on immigration.

Leo's rhetoric and calls for peace have increased as war spread across the Middle East, and when Trump threatened the whole Iranian "civilisation" in early April, Leo told reporters this was "unacceptable".

Trump's threat "tipped the scales", Mabille told AFP.

At the same time, Leo urged "the citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war always".

For Massimo Faggioli, professor of historical and contemporary ecclesiology at Trinity College Dublin, this too was a turning point.

He told AFP that it violated a long-standing diplomatic norm -- "that the pope stayed out of US politics".

- 'Difficult to attack' -

Popes have disagreed with the United States before, with John Paul II strongly opposed to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for example.

Just weeks before he died in April 2025, Pope Francis described Trump's migrant deportations as a "major crisis", drawing a rebuke from the president's border czar that he should "stick to the Catholic Church".

Many of Francis's critics dismissed him as anti-American -- something that cannot be said for Leo. 

Traditionally, US presidents have been wary of upsetting US Catholics by speaking out too much against a pope.

Trump's criticism "is unprecedented because no American president wanted to alienate American voters," Faggioli told AFP.

- Face history -

The Vatican last week played down speculation of tensions with Washington, dismissing as untrue a report that the United States gave the Holy See's envoy a dressing down in January after comments Leo made seen as critical of the US administration.

The pope responded to Trump's outburst Monday in a typically measured way, saying he had a "moral duty" to speak out against war.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an ally of Trump, condemned the president's criticism as "unacceptable", saying it was "right and normal for him (Leo) to call for peace".

Faggioli concurred, saying: "If you want to be pope you have to face history -- you can't just close yourself up in a monastery."

Mabille noted that, given how often Trump changes his mind, the row may just as well blow over.

"Who knows, maybe the pope will give a speech that Trump will like, or he'll see an opportunity to advance his own agenda and tell this pope what an extraordinary man he is," he said.

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