Donald Trump jokes that he'd like to be the next pope

Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday joked that he would like to succeed Pope Francis, who died last week at the age of 88.

Trump, asked about whom he'd like to see become the next Catholic pontiff, told reporters: "I'd like to be pope. That would be my No. 1 choice."

Trump noted he actually had no preference, adding, "I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, is not on the short list of possible contenders for the top spot, but it does include another American, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.

There has never been a pope from the U.S.
Trump and his wife Melania traveled to Rome last weekend to attend the funeral of the first pontiff from Latin America.

The two men had exchanged criticisms over a decade, mostly related to the pope's plea for compassion for migrants, a group Trump has repeatedly sought to deport.

About 135 Catholic cardinals will soon be tasked with entering a secret conclave to choose the next pope, with no clear frontrunner in sight.