US President Donald Trump has joked that he would like to become the next head of the Catholic Church when asked about potential successors to the late Pope Francis.

“I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” the president quipped, before adding that he had “no preference” in the matter.

Trump went on to say, “We have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York, who is very good.”

He did not clarify whom he was referring to. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York since 2009, was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2012.

Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 on April 21, a day after greeting worshippers during Easter Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Square. Trump attended the pontiff’s funeral alongside other world leaders at the Vatican.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Francis was elected pope in March 2013, becoming the first Jesuit and the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church. A conclave of 135 cardinals is set to convene at the Vatican on May 7 to elect his successor.

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