The president said Thursday that he looks forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV, while Vance — who visited with the previous pope the day before his death — said millions will “pray for his successful work.

“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” Pope Leo XIV wrote on his X profile as Cardinal Robert Prevost, quoting and linking to an article from the National Catholic Reporter rebuking Vance’s comments.

Leo, the first American to be elected pope in the history of the church, has been critical of Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s stances on immigration in social media posts that resurfaced on Thursday. However, Trump did not hurl insults at the religious leader in his initial statements about the new pope.