Trump's week in review: UK trade deal, illegal immigration crackdown, American pope

American pope: 'Great honor'

Trump congratulated Chicago-born Catholic prelate Robert Prevost on his election Thursday as Pope Leo XIV.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Trump wrote on social media after the election. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.”

“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!” he added.

Days before, Trump fielded criticism when the official White House X account tweeted an AI image of him decked out in papal garb. The meme drew backlash from some Catholics, including Democrats such as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., both of whom took flak on social media for what some critics claimed was selective outrage.

While Trump's meme drew dismay from figures such as Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who told reporters in Rome that "it wasn't good," some also suggested skepticism toward Hochul, Lieu and other Democrats, noting the litany of anti-Catholic incidents and sentiment during the Biden administration that went without criticism.

Trump had earlier joked to a press gaggle that he would be his own "number one choice" to be pope before noting he has "no preference."