The Daily Blast: Trump War on Pope Takes Darker Turn as Mental Decline Alarms Ex-Allies

The DSR Network

Chris Cotnoir

Government

4.5 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Donald Trump’s war on Pope Leo is worsening. JD Vance warned that the Pope, who condemned Trump’s war on religious grounds, should “be careful” in his theology. Mike Johnson dismissed the Pope’s criticisms by bizarrely invoking Just War Doctrine, which Trump and Pete Hegseth are serially violating. All this reveals Trump to be demanding that his leading sycophants (even devoutly religious ones) place him above the Pope—and indeed that they recognize no higher allegiance than to the president. Meanwhile, The New York Times has an epic piece on his mental decline, which reports that many ex-allies are sounding the alarm, from Marjorie Taylor Greene to numerous top first-term advisers. We talked to former national security official Olivia Troye, who just announced a run for Congress. She recounts what she witnessed first-hand about Trump’s unfitness, why his enablers are much worse this time around, and how his madness is now impacting Americans’ everyday lives. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:46.0	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:48.3	I'm your host, Greg Sargent. Donald Trump's war with Pope Leo has taken an uglier turn.
1:01.5	His vice president, J.D. Vance, warned that the Pope should be careful when discussing theology.
1:08.2	And House Speaker Mike Johnson, responding to the whole battle, committed a howler by
1:13.0	bringing up just war doctrine which Trump and Pete Hegeseth are serially violating. It's notable
1:19.7	that this comes as the New York Times just weighed in with an epic piece detailing Trump's
1:24.4	mental decline. In some obvious and not so obvious ways,
	...

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