President Donald Trump admitted during a recent interview that he would likely have a hard time getting into heaven if God required him to forgive some of the people who had attacked him.
Trump sat down with CBS News host Ross Douthat for a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday evening — and while much of the conversation focused on the previous week’s bruising midterm elections and Trump’s path forward with much more opposition in Congress, Douthat asked Trump to share his thoughts on heaven.
“Let’s talk about death,” Douthat said, and Trump appeared amenable to the discussion. Douthat then mentioned the repeated attempts on Trump’s life — including the day the president was shot in the ear at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally in July of 2024 — and asked what he believed would become of him when he did eventually leave this life.
“You have survived multiple assassination attempts,” Douthat said. “One came very, very close to you. I imagine that had some kind of effect on how you think about mortality. What do you think happens when you die?”
“Well, I hope I’m missed,” Trump said with a chuckle. “I hope — no, but I really mean it, I hope I’m missed!”
“I understand. I mean to you — what do you think happens to Donald Trump when you die?” Douthat asked again, clarifying that he meant the question more in a literal sense. “Not your memory, your self.”
“You mean where I go?” Trump asked. “Well, I’m a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven.”
“Do you think you’re going to heaven?” Douthat asked.
“I hope so; I don’t want to go to hell,” Trump replied.
Douthat went on to press Trump on things he had said about his political opponents — and “enemies.” He referenced Erika Kirk’s statement about forgiving the man who assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and asked whether Trump thought he could ever forgive his own enemies if that were required for him to enter heaven.
“You said, ‘I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them,'” Douthat recalled, and Trump nodded along. “Let’s say you pass away. You’re entering the next life [before God], all you have to do to enter paradise is feel love and forgiveness for James Comey, Nancy Pelosi, anyone who you expressed hate for over the years: do you think you can do it?”
“Then I wouldn’t be real, would I? I mean, if I said to you, sure, the easy answer to that’s, ‘Oh, yes, I could forgive,'” Trump replied. “I found them to be extremely dishonest people, very bad people, very bad for our country, I love our country far more than I can love people, and people like that —”
“Is the answer no?” Douthat prompted.
“The answer is no,” Trump said. “I want to be honest.”
“Before the judgment throne of God?” Douthat asked again.
“Before the judgment — I think they were very bad people. I dislike — I can use the word hate, I do hate some of my enemies,” Trump continued. “They’ve been terrible. Look what they put me through, the weaponization. I got indicted, I got impeached —”
“Mr. President, you have had the most charmed and remarkable life of any American in my entire lifetime, and you are telling me you couldn’t find it in your heart to forgive some of your enemies?” Douthat pressed again, not really acknowledging Trump’s reference to the Democrats’ repeated attempts to either throw him out of office or into jail. “After all that’s been given to you?”
Trump stuck to his guns, repeating, “I mean it’s such an easy answer, all I have to do is say, ‘Yes, I can.’ Can I be honest? I probably cannot do that. Because I do hate some of my enemies — and I always will.”
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