President Trump reacts after election of first U.S.-born pope in history

US President Donald Trump has celebrated the election of the first U.S.-born pope, calling it a “Great Honor” that Robert Francis Prevost, who chose Leo XIV as his papal name, was selected on Thursday, May 8,  as the first American pontiff.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “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!”

Trump previously said he had “no preference” about who the new pope would be and stirred a backlash from some Catholics after posting an AI-generated image of himself as pope to social media

Prevost, 69 was born in Chicago and attended Villanova University before becoming a missionary in Peru. 

He was elected and accepted his fate as the next Bishop of Rome, leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics earlier on Thursday. 

Pope Leo XIV will succeed Pope Francis, who died last month after leading the Catholic Church for more than a decade. He played a key in shaping the image of the church over the past decade, emphasizing issues like climate change during his tenure.