Washington, D.C.: U.S. President Donald Trump triggered a wave of reactions online after joking that he would like to be the next Pope, following the recent death of Pope Francis at the age of 88.
When asked for his thoughts on the future leadership of the Catholic Church, Trump responded with humour: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”
While his initial comment drew laughter, Trump went on to speak seriously about potential successors to Pope Francis. Although he said he had no particular preference, the 78-year-old mentioned Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, as someone who could be “very good.”
“No, I don’t know, I have no preference. I might say we have a Cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who is very good. So we’ll see what happens,” Trump added.
Some netizens raised concerns about the appropriateness of the remark and strongly opposed the idea of Trump as the next pontiff, as the comment quickly went viral and triggered a wave of memes across social media platforms. “Good news is he would no longer be president, bad news is he would be pope,” quipped one user. Another joked, “Next grift incoming: Catholic Bibles signed by Trump.”
Critics were quick to highlight Trump’s personal life, questioning the suitability of his candidacy. “Does the pope usually have 6 children with 3 different women? Lol,” one user wrote. Another commented, “In psychology, we term this disorder as Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”
😆"I'd like to be Pope." - President Trump pic.twitter.com/WZavhJrKIa
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Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
