You probably know about this:

Pope Francis joined an international chorus urging Donald Trump to meet U.S. commitments on climate change in talks at the Vatican Wednesday.

Francis gave the U.S. president a copy of his 2015 encyclical calling for urgent, drastic cuts in fossil-fuel emissions after a half-hour meeting in his private study.

Francis’s choice of gift suggests he is adding his voice to those pressing Trump not to renege on the Paris accord, which is the cornerstone of global efforts to limit climate change.....

“Thank you, thank you,” Trump told Francis as they shook hands after the meeting. “I won’t forget what you said.”

Charlie Pierce called this "some expert trolling" on the pope's part. Dave Weigel called it "trolling of biblical proportions."

I'm not so sure. Apart from the obvious point that Trump is unlikely to read the encyclical because he's no fan of reading, the meeting with the pope reminds me of the week during the transition when Trump met with Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio to discuss climate issues -- after which Trump chose climate change denier Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. I'm also thinking of the staged humiliation of Mitt Romney, which preceded Trump's pick of Rex Tillerson for the secretary of state position.

Trump rarely has the courage to challenge critics face-to-face. He seems to prefer the stab in the back. And while I know he's been put on a cable news starvation diet during this trip, sooner or later he's likely to find out that the pope's has been making his discomfort with Trump obvious:

The pope put in a good word for the planet when talking to Trump -- but I think that might be precisely why Trump will ultimately decide to back out of the Paris accord.

Crossposted at No More Mr. Nice Blog