A recent clip of President Donald Trump has left people thinking, “He was joking, right?” On April 29, 2025, a reporter asked the president to share his thoughts on who he thinks should be the next pope, following the death of Pope Francis. Trump responded with a joke. “I’d like to be pope,” he said. “That’d be my No. 1 choice.”
He then went on to share his actual answer, saying, “No, I don’t know. I don’t have a preference. I might say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who is very good. So we’ll see what happens.”
However, some critics were concerned that he wasn’t actually joking. Given that he has compared himself to a king and talked about running for a third term as president, it seemed like something Trump might really say.
One critic on X called Trump’s response “seriously embarrassing.”
A second person wrote, “Thing with Trump is, you can never be sure whether he’s serious or joking.”
A third critic wrote, “I think he was joking — right?”
While some people could tell that Trump was joking, they found the joke to be rather offensive. “People get it is a mockery over their faith even an Atheist would not do out of politeness — right ?” another X user responded. “I ain’t even religious and I feel like this is disrespectful,” a fifth critic wrote.
Among those who responded was Senator Lindsey Graham. “I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope,” the Republican senator from South Carolina wrote on X. “This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!”
He concluded his post with, “The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke … Trump MMXXVIII!”
I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope. This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 29, 2025
The first Pope-U.S. President combination has… pic.twitter.com/MM9vE5Uvzb
While some people insisted that Graham was “joking” and seemed to defend him, others were concerned. “What — and I mean this genuinely — is wrong with you?” one person wrote in response to Graham’s post.
The account for Republicans Against Trump responded to the senator by asking, “Are you okay?”
“How are you not embarrassed posting this,” a third critic wrote. “I don’t even know how you get elected.”
To some critics, whether Graham was joking or not didn’t really matter. His post seemed offensive either way.
One person wrote, “Is my Catholicism a joke to you, Lindsey?”
A second person concluded, “I don’t know which one is worse: if he is joking or he is serious.”
