The U.S. now has two world leaders. They could not be more different.

The U.S. now has two top-level leaders on the global stage — and there is evidence to suggest Pope Leo XIV will cut a stark contrast to President Donald Trump.

VATICAN CITY — The U.S. now has two top-level leaders on the global stage — and there is evidence to suggest Pope Leo XIV will cut a stark contrast with President Donald Trump.

The Chicago-born pontiff, 69, is known as a humble moderate who used his first papal words to urge building “bridges.” Seen as a spiritual successor to the late Pope Francis, Leo was echoing his predecessor’s refrain of building “bridges not walls” — a theme Francis used to openly criticize the Trump administration.

As Cardinal Robert Prevost, Leo also criticized both Trump and Vice President JD Vance on social media. As recently as February, he shared a headline saying that Vance, who is Catholic, was “wrong” to suggest Christians should prioritize loving their countrymen over foreigners.

And like Francis, Leo has expressed deep sympathy for migrants, the poor and those affected by the climate crisis. He has shared the late pope’s support for appointing women to senior Vatican roles — and his resistance against going all-out in support of female ordination. And he has similarly advocated for an inclusive church that reaches out to other faiths and cultures.

President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV.Getty Images; Europa PressOn the other hand, he has not followed Francis’ relative support for LGBTQ+ communities, lamenting in 2012 how TV shows “benignly and sympathetically portrayed” same-sex couples, according to a report by The Arlington Catholic Herald at the time.