Donald Trump has made his again. A few days after attending the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, the president of the United States has surprised this Tuesday with an unexpected response – although very much in his style – about who should happen to the Argentine pontiff. “I would like to be a potato. That would be my number one option,” he said before journalists from the White House.
The scene has taken place during an appearance in Washington, with the flags still half -mast due to the death of the first Latin American Pope. Asked directly about who would like to see as the new head of the Catholic Church, Trump has assured: “I don’t know, I have no preference. But I must say that there is a cardinal of a place called New York that is very good. We will see what happens.”
He referred to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, current archbishop of New York, whom he wanted to highlight – according to sources in his environment – both for his geographical proximity and for his affable tone and direct style. Dolan will be one of the ten American representatives who will participate in the conclave that will begin next Tuesday, May 7, convened in the Vatican to choose the new spiritual leader of the more than 1.3 billion Catholics in the world.
Recent and turbulent funeral
Dolan already participated in the 2013 conclave, in which Jorge Bergoglio was chosen, and then received two votes. This time does not appear among the favorites, but it will be present until the white smoke announced to the next pontiff. Among the names that do sound with more force are Cardinal Raymond Burke – one of the preferred ones of the most conservative wing – and Cardinal Robert Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery of the Bishops, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and, in addition, fluid in Spanish.
Trump and his wife Melania attended the funeral held in the Plaza de San Pedro last Saturday. Although the ceremony passed without shocks, the relationship between the Republican President and the late Pontiff was never simple. For more than a decade, both exchanged criticism in public. Pope Francis repeatedly denounced the treatment of migrants and requested compassion towards them, while Trump tried to harden deportation policies during his two campaigns and his first mandate.
Now, with the Church in Transition and American politics in full boiling, Trump has not wanted to miss the opportunity to get back in the center. Literally, saying that his name would be his first option to become Pope.
Trump celebrates his 100 days in office: “We just started”
Hours after his statements, the president has traveled to Mistchigan to commemorate the first 100 days of his second term. The act has taken place in Macomb County, the country’s industrial belt and key land in its three electoral campaigns.
“We just started. They have not seen anything yet,” he has launched from the stage, on his first official work trip within the United States since he swore on January 20. Trump has promised to “end illegal immigration”, “recover our work” and “protect our great automotive workers and all our workers.”
He assures that his cabinet has carried out “the deepest change in Washington in about 100 years.” In his speech, attacks have not lacked “a perverse political class that was enriched, sold the country and bleed it”, nor its references to the achievements of the past. “We had four excellent years with the best economy in the history of our country. The stock market rose 88 %; it went very well and now it will be better,” he said, without blinking.
The president has also defended that his administration is “braking the indoctrination” of the children, “cutting thousands and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse” and, above all, “saving the American dream.”
Macomb, where Motors, Ford and Stellantis have a general presence, symbolizes Trump’s message as few. In the three elections in which he has participated, he has surpassed the Democratic candidates there for more than ten points. And this Tuesday he has chosen to reaffirm what he considers his mission: to make the United States again. Or, apparently, also to the Church.
