On his social network Truth Social this Thursday, May 8, the American president Donald Trump sends his congratulations to the new pope, the first sovereign American pontiff in history.
President Donald Trump sent his “congratulations” to Thursday to Léon XIV, first pope from the United Statesin a message on its Truth Social network. “What excitement and what great honor for our country,” he added, saying “impatient” to meet the new head of the Catholic Church.
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, has become under the name of Léon XIV the first pope from the United States in history. Vice-president JD Vance, converted to Catholicism in 2019, also expressed his congratulations on X: “I am sure that millions of American and other Christians will pray for him to guide the Church with success. May God bless him.”
Complicated relations with Pope Francis
JD Vance had been criticized publicly for his hard line on immigration by the late Pope Francis, whose new bishop of Rome was a loved one. “The United States is delighted to deepen its lasting relationship with the Holy See with the first American pontiff,” the head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio said in a statement, also a fervent Catholic.
The American president had complicated relations With François, the predecessor of Léon XIV. The latter, who had received Donald Trump to the Vatican during his first mandate in 2017 for an interview of half an hour, had criticized the American leader several times for his antimigrant positions.
After the return to power of the Republican on January 20, the Argentinian Jesuit, a great defender of the excluded, had not radouci the tone, believing that the expulsions of migrants “involved the dignity of many men and women”.
Donald Trump Also attracted criticism by publishing on his social network, a few days before the conclave, a portrait of him in pope, visibly generated by artificial intelligence.