Washington, April 14 -- US President Donald Trump on Monday refused to apologise to Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff, following his public criticism of the Pope's stance on Iran and domestic issues.

Trump described Pope Leo's positions as "wrong" and suggested that the pontiff would be "unhappy with the result" of his administration's policies, further intensifying political and diplomatic tensions.

"I won't apologise to Pope Leo. I think he's very weak on crime and other things," Trump told reporters at the White House.

He added, "Pope Leo said wrong things. He was very much against what I'm doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result. You have hundreds of...