President Donald Trump congratulated Pope Leo XIV, the first-ever pope from the United States, in a message posted Thursday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has just been named pope. It is a tremendous honor to know he is the first American pope. What a thrill, and what a great honor for our country,” Trump wrote.

“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a great moment!” he added.

Later, Trump spoke briefly to reporters outside the West Wing about the new pope, who hails from Chicago and also holds Peruvian nationality.

“What greater honor could there be? We’re a bit surprised but very happy,” Trump remarked.

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When asked by a reporter whether he regretted posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed as pope — which he shared less than a week after attending Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome — Trump ignored the question.

Last week, he jokingly said he would like to succeed Pope Francis: “I’d like to be pope — that would be my number one choice,” he quipped.

During the conclave, the Republican politician had expressed certain preferences and hinted at support for a New York cardinal, presumably Timothy Dolan, whom he described as “very good.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a conservative Catholic, also reacted to the election of the new pontiff.

“The United States looks forward to deepening its enduring relationship with the Holy See under the first American pope,” Rubio said in a statement.

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President Trump had a complicated relationship with the previous pope.

May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.

In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.

Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.

Erik Prince, the founder of the private security firm Blackwater (now called Academi), expressed his support for Daniel Noboa, the president and re-election candidate in Ecuador, and stated that he hopes to continue working together in the fight against crime.

“I hope Ecuador chooses law and order. We are here to help, to combat gangs, and to provide the tools for the government to restore law and order, peace, and prosperity,” said the former U.S. military member, who arrived in Guayaquil to participate in an operation alongside the Ministers of the Interior, John Reimberg, and Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo.

Prince did not hold back in his criticism of left-wing governments, such as Venezuela, which he described as a “narco-state with mass drug processing,” while also linking the party Revolución Ciudadana, of which the Correista Luisa González is a member (and who faces Noboa in the second electoral round), as an “ally of Nicolás Maduro.”

Minister Loffredo had already announced on Tuesday that a team from Prince would arrive in the country in the coming days to provide “advisory and training” to security forces, as part of the “strategic alliance” that President Noboa agreed upon with the Blackwater founder to fight against “narcoterrorism,” details of which have not been disclosed.