Donald Trump has joked about who his "number one choice" to be the next pope would be. The Catholic Church is currently looking for a new leader after the death of Pope Francis earlier this month.

The US President, who attended the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, bizarrely said he would like to lead the almost-2,000-year-old institution. He told a reporter on Tuesday: "I'd like to be Pope, that would be my number one choice!"

However, this is unlikely given that Trump, as well as being the serving president of the US, is a billionaire who has been married three times.

After the joking comment, he said he has "no preference" on who should replace Francis. He added: "I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.” Timothy Dolan, the cardinal of New York, is not believed to be among the favourites to replace Francis.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham responded to Trump's bid for the papacy on social media. He said he was "excited to hear" about the audacious bid.

Graham said: "This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility! The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke…. Trump MMXXVIII!"

The Vatican has confirmed that the conclave will start inside the Sistine Chapel on May 7. The closed-door meeting to elect the next pope will involve 135 cardinals under the age of 80.

Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman, said the cardinals will take part in a solemn mass at St Peter's Basilica before gathering in the Sistine Chapel for the secretive ballot. They must then have no communication with the outside world until the next pope is elected.

There is no timescale as to how long the process will take. However, the previous two conclaves have lasted just two days.

On Saturday, around 200,000 people attended the funeral of Pope Francis, including political and royal figures. Donald Trump was in attendance alongside Sir Keir Starmer and Prince William for the open-air funeral in St Peter's Square.