Donald Trump Revisits His Chances of Going to Heaven After Earlier Saying He Was Not 'Heaven-Bound' at All

President Donald Trump said he hoped to reach heaven when he dies in a White House interview broadcast on Sunday, 8 November 2026, revisiting doubts he had previously expressed about his chances.

The exchange with CBS's 60 Minutes interviewer Ross Douthat came after Trump spent months discussing his prospects of entering heaven, sometimes joking and sometimes linking them to his presidential record. This time, his answer was cautious.

Donald Trump Says He Hopes to Reach Heaven

During the CBS interview, recorded on Friday, 6 November, Douthat asked Trump what he believed would happen to him after death. The conversation followed questions about his political legacy and the Republicans' losses in the 3 November midterm elections.

Trump first focused on his reputation, saying he hoped people would miss him. When Douthat clarified that he was asking about Trump's fate rather than how history would remember him, the president sought to confirm that he meant where he would go.

'I'm a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven,' Trump replied. He then said he hoped to get there, adding, 'I don't want to go to hell.'

His response offered no certainty. But Douthat soon tested how Trump's beliefs related to forgiveness, invoking remarks by Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, at the activist's memorial service.

Douthat asked whether Trump could forgive political adversaries such as former FBI director James Comey and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi if that were required to enter paradise. Trump said he did not believe that he could, portraying them as people he considered harmful to the country.

Asked to confirm that his answer was no, Trump refused to soften his position. He acknowledged: 'I do hate some of my enemies,' and insisted he had reasons for feeling that way.

The comments complicated an otherwise hopeful discussion of his afterlife. Douthat pressed him on whether someone who had enjoyed so much success could find forgiveness for his opponents. Trump maintained that he probably could not.

Trump's Earlier Remarks About Heaven

The president had raised the subject before. In a 19 August 2025 telephone interview with Fox & Friends, Trump connected his efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine with his hope of reaching heaven.

He said preventing deaths could help his case, despite believing he was near the 'bottom of the totem pole'. He also pointed to his diplomacy involving India and Pakistan, presenting his interventions as efforts to save lives.

During an Air Force One exchange on 12 October 2025, Trump again questioned his prospects. He suggested that nothing he had done might be enough to secure a place in heaven and described himself as perhaps not 'heaven-bound'.

He laughed while making the remarks, joking that flying aboard Air Force One might itself feel like heaven. He nevertheless credited his presidency with improving lives.

At the National Prayer Breakfast on 5 February 2026, Trump said previous comments about his chances of reaching heaven had been a joke. He suggested he 'probably should make it', while describing himself as 'not a perfect candidate'.

By November, the question had returned, this time alongside an explicit discussion of forgiveness. Trump expressed hope about heaven but said he could not forgive opponents he continued to resent.