Trump says 'I don't want to go to Hell,' admits he cannot forgive enemies: 'Post-Christian president'

President Donald Trump said during a Sunday interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that he doesn't "want to go to Hell," but that he unrepentantly hates his enemies and has no intention of forgiving them.

Correspondent Ross Douthat, who is Roman Catholic, asked the 80-year-old Trump at the end of the interview, which focused on the GOP's generational midterm defeat, to reflect on his views of death and eternity, especially in light of multiple assassination attempts.

As Trump laughed and shifted in his seat in response, saying he hopes he will "be missed," Douthat pressed him to answer what he believes will happen to his soul, regardless of what others might think of him after he dies.

“I'm a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven,” President Trump says, discussing what he thinks happens after death. “I don't want to go to hell.” https://t.co/8o5y8hcqtY https://t.co/5LexpK2jEP

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 9, 2026

"Well, I'm a religious person, so in theory I go to Heaven," Trump replied.

When asked if he believes he will go to Heaven, Trump said, "I hope so. I don't want to go to Hell."

Noting how Trump admitted during the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk's memorial service last year that he hates his opponents and doesn't want the best for them, Douthat asked Trump if he would be able to forgive his enemies if he knew his eternal destiny depended on it.

"Let's say you pass away, you're entering the next life, and all you have to do to enter paradise is feel love and forgiveness for James Comey, Nancy Pelosi, anyone who you have expressed hate for over the years. Do you think you can do it?" he asked.

Claiming he wanted to offer a genuine answer, Trump said, "The answer is no. I want to be honest, no. I think it would—

"Before the judgment throne of God?" Douthat cut in, to which Trump replied: "Before the judgment. No, I think they were very bad people and— I dislike, I can use the word 'hate,' I do hate some of my enemies. I think they're— they've been terrible. Look what they've put me through, the weaponization. I got indicted—"

Douthat interrupted again, noting Trump has lived "the most charmed and remarkable life of any American in my entire lifetime."

"And you are telling me you couldn't find it in your heart to forgive some of your enemies? After all that's been given to you?" he asked.

"I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will," Trump said.

The questioning from Douthat, who suggested Trump would end up in Purgatory, came as Trump has repeatedly spoken flippantly about his eternal state, joking last fall that he was "maybe not Heaven-bound." His remarks prompted concern at the time from some of his Christian supporters, who worried it was evidence that Trump had rejected the Gospel he has often heard and was trusting instead in his own accomplishments.

Some Christians on social media responded with pity toward the apparent spiritual condition of the president, who is grappling with political defeat, dwindling support and questions of his legacy as he reaches the end of his life.

"It's clear that President Trump is not a Christian… He doesn't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, nor does he understand the Gospel. If he doesn’t want to go to Hell, he needs to repent of his sins & commit to Christ as Lord. Pray for him," wrote Christian commentator Jon Root.

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said during a Monday episode of his podcast that Trump's answer was "very, very sad."

"I just want to remind Christians that when we're thinking about this, we are not better people than the president of the United States because we can forgive our enemies. It is the right thing to do, but no one can do that without the grace of God. No one can do that without a work in our heart, leading us to be able to forgive," he said, going on to urge prayer that such would take place for Trump.

Mohler noted Trump seemed to take Douthat's question seriously, but answered it "almost in a spirit of resignation."

"I just want to say to the president: no, you can't do that [forgive your enemies]. But the Holy Spirit of God can do that, but only when you have known the forgiveness of sins; and only on that basis do the sins of others against us take on an entirely new understanding. Those who have been forgiven much must forgive," he added.

John Daniel Davidson, senior editor at The Federalist and author of Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come, described Trump in an X post on Monday as "the first explicitly post-Christian president."

"Earlier presidents would have felt they had to say yes to this, even if it was disingenuous. But Trump neither believes in forgiving/loving his enemies, nor does he feel he has to say that he does when he doesn't," he continued. "The precepts of the Christian faith have no claim on him. It will be much worse when the next Democrat is elected president. Neo-paganism has arrived. It's all cycles of blood and vengeance from here on out."

During a recent interview with NPR, political commentator Tucker Carlson speculated that Trump's jokes about not going to Heaven likely emerge from genuine despair. He alleged Trump is given to spiritual nihilism, which Carlson said manifests in not caring about the long-term consequences of his policy decisions.

Carlson said Trump dismissed his fervent lobbying against the Iran war in the Oval Office last February by telling him, "Yes, you're right. But in the end, we all die anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Trump's attitude toward his political enemies has increasingly drawn rebuke even from his supporters over the past year, perhaps most notably when he gloated at the gruesome murder of director Rob Reiner at the hands of his own son last December. More than two-thirds of Americans and most Republicans said at the time that his post mocking Reiner and accusing him of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" was "inappropriate," according to a survey.

Trump also prompted outrage from many Christians for his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in February, when he dismissed concern over the state of his soul before launching into an attack against his opponents, including Republicans who have disagreed with him. He leveled specific insults against Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as well as Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, all of whom are Christians.