‘Pope Trump’? Social media erupts as Trump jokes he’s his own pick for next pope

Trump, who attended the late pope’s funeral at St Peter’s Square on April 26, added with characteristic flair that he had “no preference” for the next pope—but pointed out a “very good” cardinal from New York, presumably referring to Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

“I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

President Trump joked with reporters at the White House, saying he’d ‘like to be Pope’ https://t.co/wJUxAG7DDP pic.twitter.com/tSeG2OgZAa

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 30, 2025

As per reports, Dolan isn’t among the frontrunners, and the Catholic Church has never had a pope from the United States. But that didn’t stop Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from enthusiastically jumping aboard the holy bandwagon. “This would truly be a dark horse candidate,” he posted online, calling on the papal conclave to “keep an open mind” and even teasing: “Watching for white smoke… Trump MMXXVIII!”

The moment quickly exploded across social media, where supporters hailed the notion while others flooded platforms with memes of Trump donning papal robes, golden mitre, and a wave from the Vatican balcony.

Trump has just said he wants to be Pope and only the AI can make it happen. Thank God for small favours! # AI https://t.co/0DLzEi4BCq

— Blog de Cristina (@blogdecristina) April 30, 2025

The unexpected remark comes as the Vatican prepares to begin the process of selecting a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21. Cardinals will begin the conclave on May 7.