Trump Hails the Election of First US Pope as a ‘Great Honor’

Cardinals Elect New Pope, White Smoke Rises From Sistine Chapel

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By Skylar Woodhouse

May 8, 2025 at 1:37 PM EDT

Updated on

May 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM EDT

President Donald Trump hailed the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the pope, the first US national ever to be head of the Catholic Church, and said he looked forward to meeting him.

“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country,” Trump said in a social media post on Thursday. “I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”