Pope Leo XIV and President Trump are escalating a high-stakes clash over immigration and the Iran war, exposing a rare and widening divide between the Vatican and the White House, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

• Why it matters: The standoff pits the Vatican's moral authority against Washington's political and military power as both shape global narratives on war, diplomacy and human dignity.

⚡ It's one of the sharpest public divides between a pope and a U.S. president in decades, spanning both foreign policy and domestic immigration fights.

• While Catholic leaders are framing the Iran war in terms of just war theory and civilian protection, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has infused the conflict with Christian nationalist rhetoric and a "maximum lethality" approach.
• Leading U.S. cardinals, including Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich and Washington's Cardinal Robert McElroy, have publicly reinforced Pope Leo's criticism of the Iran war.

⛪ This week, Leo delivered his sharpest rebuke of Trump, calling the president's threat to destroy Iran's civilization "truly unacceptable."

• "Attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law, and ... are also a sign of the hatred, division, and destruction that the human being is capable of," the pope told reporters in Italy on Tuesday.
• The pope was reacting to Trump's post that a "whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

🕊️ Leo has repeatedly urged peace, diplomacy and rejection of war rhetoric.

• Yesterday, the pope tweeted: "God does not bless any conflict. ... Military action will not create space for freedom or times of peace."

The other side: The White House rejected the premise of a clash, emphasizing cooperation with the Vatican and defending Trump's policies:

• "All of President Trump's foreign policy actions have made the world safer, more stable, and more prosperous," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Axios. "Catholic Americans resoundingly supported President Trump in 2024, and the President's administration has a positive relationship with the Vatican."

📉 Reality check: Various surveys show Trump is losing support among Catholics — even white Catholics, a majority who voted for the president in 2024.

• Only 18% of Hispanic Catholics, a fast-growing segment in the U.S., supported the president's agenda.
• A March NBC News poll found Leo with a +34 favorability rating — far higher than Trump's.

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NASA's Artemis II crew arrived home to a nation watching their return from a 10-day lunar flyby that took them nearly 250,000 miles from Earth, Axios San Diego's Kate Murphy reports.

• 🎯 "A perfect bull's-eye splashdown for Integrity and its astronauts," the NASA broadcaster said, after the spacecraft's successful descent into the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. ET last night.

🌖 The return capped a historic mission serving as a test flight before NASA attempts to land on the Moon in 2028.

• "We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said after the splashdown. "This is just the beginning."

An elite U.S. Navy dive team made first contact with the four astronauts and the Orion spacecraft.

• The team has been training for this rescue mission for over a year, and its success relied on detailed teamwork, planning and rocket science, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Christopher Winn told Axios.
• The approach was similar to the way capsules from NASA's Apollo missions were recovered by Navy SEALs decades ago, Winn said.

🚀 Stunning stat: Artemis came screaming back at 36,174 feet per second — or 24,664 mph, just short of Apollo's record — before slowing to splash down at 19 mph.

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Top Democrats are calling for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) to leave the California governor's race after the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that a former staffer accused him of sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions, including a first instance in 2019.

• Shortly after the Chronicle bombshell, CNN published a detailed report with four women accusing Swalwell of various acts of sexual misconduct, including sending unsolicited nude photos.
• CNN's report includes an on-camera interview with an unnamed former staffer (shown in shadow) who accused him of rape. He denied the allegations in a video last night, but apologized to his wife for unspecified mistakes.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) both called for Swalwell, who represents the East Bay, to end his campaign.

• The Chronicle and CNN both reported that Swalwell's attorney sent cease-and-desist letters to at least two of the accusers. CNN said the letters were sent Thursday, a day after the network reached out to his campaign.

In last night's video, Swalwell, 45, said he'd "fight [the allegations] with everything that I have. ... These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor."

• Rumors of sexual harassment and abuse by Swalwell had circulated on social media for weeks before the Chronicle's report.

Democrats and labor unions quickly distanced themselves from Swalwell, who is among the frontrunners in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The primary is on June 2.

• California Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla dropped their endorsements, as did Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a close friend of Swalwell's.
• Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), who chaired Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign, resigned.

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Direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, with Pakistani mediation, have started in Islamabad today, according to Iranian media reports.

• It's the first round of talks aimed at converting the fragile two-week ceasefire into lasting peace.
• "We still don't agree on what we are negotiating about," one U.S. official told Axios ahead of the meeting.
• U.S. and Iranian officials held separate talks with Pakistan's prime minister today.

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Across major recent surveys of self-reported well-being, Americans say they're pretty miserable.

• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey's preliminary reading for April — released yesterday — fell 11%, to 47.6.
• If those numbers hold when the full data comes out at the end of the month, it would be the lowest on record — below the previous low reading of 50 at the peak of Biden-era inflation, Axios' chief economic correspondent Neil Irwin writes.

Other recent reports capture a souring mood:

• 💼 Small business optimism fell for a second consecutive quarter this week, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. Just 28% of small-business owners said the U.S. economy is in good health — down 10 points from the previous quarter.
• 😞 The U.S. is 23rd in the World Happiness Report this year, down from 15th three years ago.

The big picture: Three methodologically distinct surveys are all flashing the same warning. Americans aren't just anxious about inflation or the job market. They're unhappy, full stop.

• Explore the Michigan data.

Tomatoes are suddenly one of the biggest drivers of grocery inflation — even as other food prices cool, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.

• Tomatoes jumped 15.3% in March and are up 22.6% year over year, according to data out yesterday.

📈 The big picture: The spike shows how tariffs, war-driven energy costs and real-time supply shortages can collide — pushing up prices for a single staple, even as overall grocery inflation stays muted.

• 🥚 Eggs are down as the bird flu fades.

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Good at gaming? The government wants to hire you as an air traffic controller.

• ✈️ In an ad released yesterday, the department touts high pay — "make a lot of money" — and features imagery familiar to anyone who's logged hours on Xbox.

Between the lines: Officials need more people with quick thinking and multitasking skills.

• The Trump administration is no stranger to unconventional recruitment tactics (see: ICE).

The big picture: The U.S. has an air traffic controller shortage, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and government shutdowns.

• Keep reading (Bloomberg gift link) ... Watch the video.

The Trump administration yesterday released plans for a 250-foot "Triumphal Arch" near Arlington Memorial Bridge.

• Think Parisian monument vibes, but with two eagles, a golden angel and "One Nation Under God" carved into the stone.

The project is framed as a celebration of America's 250th anniversary. And it's part of President Trump's broader campaign to remake Washington in his image.

• ⚖️ Vietnam veterans have sued to block the arch, arguing it would obstruct views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery and that Congress never signed off.

What's next: The design goes before the Commission of Fine Arts next week. Trump has filled the panel with allies.

• Go deeper (N.Y. Times gift link) ... More renderings.