Key Facts

The Vatican’s Growing Tensions With Trump Administration

The Trump administration has increasingly lashed out at the pope, a steadfast critic of the war in Iran. Trump called Leo, in a Truth Social post in April, “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump has repeatedly falsely accused Leo of supporting Iran’s right to have a nuclear weapon, which Leo has not said. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, also warned Leo to “be careful” when speaking on theological matters, citing the pope’s anti-war comments. Vance’s comments prompted a rebuke from a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee, which said Leo’s remarks uphold the Church’s longstanding teaching that war is only justified “in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.” A report in the Free Press claimed in a January meeting Pentagon officials were threatening to a Vatican official, though the Pentagon denied this in a statement and called the report “highly exaggerated.”

Anthropic’s Growing Tensions With Trump

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a February blog post he opposes the Defense Department’s use of Anthropic technology for mass domestic surveillance and to power fully autonomous weapons. The post prompted a swift rebuke from Trump, who slammed Anthropic as a “radical left, woke company” and ordered federal agencies to stop using its technology. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he would designate Anthropic as a “supply chain risk to national security,” prompting the AI company to sue the government. Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s CTO Emil Michael said Anthropic is still considered a national security risk, but its advanced Mythos technology is “a separate national security moment,” and members of the administration met with Anthropic about its powerful new model. Politico reported in late April the administration is trying to forge a “ceasefire” with Anthropic, citing six unnamed tech lobbyists and policy experts, two of whom have ties to the White House. Olah has previously criticized Trump, acknowledging in a January post on X he stays out of politics but that the administration’s immigration raids “shock the conscience.”

Tangent

Leo on Thursday warned against the use of AI technology in warfare in a speech at Rome’s La Sapienza University, saying such weaponry could send the world into a “spiral of annihilation.” He urged better regulation of AI technology in the military “so that it does not absolve humans of responsibility for their choices and does not exacerbate the tragedy of conflicts.”

Forbes Valuation

Olah is worth $7 billion, according to Forbes estimates, placing him No. 546 on Forbes’ list of the wealthiest people in the world.

Further Reading

Pope Leo Says It Is ‘Not In My Interest’ To Debate Trump Amid Washington-Vatican Clash (Forbes)