President Donald Trump receives standing ovation in Israel
President Donald Trump received a standing ovation in Israel’s parliament after supporting the release of 20 Israeli hostage survivors held by Hamas.
- President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he never thought he would go to heaven.
- President Trump’s comments came in response to a question about whether a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza would help Trump enter heaven into heaven.
- President Trump has previously said he expects to go to heaven if he successfully ends the Ukraine-Russia war.
President Donald Trump said he did not think he would go to heaven during a visit to Israel following the US-brokered ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
On October 12, as President Trump was answering questions from reporters aboard Air Force One, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if the latest ceasefire would help the president get into heaven, referring to Trump’s previous comments that ending the Ukraine war could help the president reach the Pearly Gates.
Trump responded to Doocy: “I mean, I’m trying to be a little cute. I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me to heaven.” “I think I’m probably not going to go to heaven…I don’t know if I’m going to go to heaven, but I’ve made a lot of people’s lives a lot better.”
He also falsely claimed that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that the Ukraine-Russia war would not have occurred if he had been president.
What kind of religion is Trump? Here’s what we know:
Trump once described himself as a Presbyterian, but in 2020 he told Religion News Service that he had come to consider himself a nondenominational Christian.
However, first lady Melania Trump made headlines in 2017 when she met with the late Pope Francis and revealed that she was Catholic when she asked him to bless her rosary beads.
President Trump previously spoke of heaven during peace talks between Ukraine and Russia
On Aug. 19, President Trump appeared on “Fox & Friends” to discuss his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin after meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy and other European leaders at the White House the day before, and said this about heaven:
“I’d like to go to heaven if I can. I hear I’m not feeling very well. I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I ever get there, that’ll be one of the reasons.”
At a White House press conference later that day, press secretary Caroline Leavitt was asked whether President Trump’s comments were a joke or whether there was a spiritual motive behind the peace effort.
“I think the president was serious,” Levitt said. “I think the president wants to go to heaven, and we hope that too in this room.”
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky (@kinseycrowley.bsky.social).
