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player ready...ROME — After months of tensions between Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump, the pontiff has announced that he hopes to make his first papal visit to the United States “soon,” or at least within a “couple of years.”
In an interview with NBC that was broadcast Wednesday night, Leo — an American citizen — also said that while there was “great significance in being the first American pope,” he thought of himself more “as the pope who happens to be American.”
Asked if he was planning a formal trip to the United States, Leo said, “They will see me there,” adding that “by coincidence” he had been looking at a calendar “for the next couple of years.”
“Nothing is set in stone yet,” he said, “but I certainly hope to be there soon.”
Born in Chicago in 1955, Leo is the first pope from the United States, and he has made that an asset, showing a readiness to challenge Washington on several fronts. After Trump repeatedly attacked Leo for openly criticizing the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Leo responded that he had “no fear” of the Trump administration. Tensions have also risen over migration, after Leo encouraged American bishops to support immigrants in the face of a crackdown by the Trump administration.
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Unlike many other world leaders, Trump has not visited the Vatican since Leo became pope in May 2025. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, said that as far as he knew, the president had yet to speak directly with the pope, via phone, text or otherwise. A papal visit to the United States would typically involve a meeting between the pontiff and the president.
Leo’s comments about the possible trip came after he held a prayer ceremony that also featured tenor Andrea Bocelli at the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, a town outside Rome that has for centuries been the summer residence of popes. During the evening, Leo gave brief interviews with reporters from NBC Nightly News and Noticias Telemundo.
The pontiff said he had “great love for America” and for its principles. “What America stands for,” he said, “the sense of freedom, the sense of opportunity, the sense of having invited for generations people from around the world to be part of America.”
Leo said he came from a family of migrants and cited his mother’s ancestors, who included “both slaves and slave owners,” he said.
Still, he said that he did not see himself as only an American. Though he did not want “to belittle what it means to be American,” he noted, he said he understood that his mission had a broader dimension in “being pastor of a universal church, and having a voice and an opportunity to speak to people throughout the world,” he told NBC.
Speaking with Telemundo, Leo was asked for a message for migrants.
“Have hope,” he said. “Certainly, seek ways to live in an orderly manner.”
Only one pope has ever traveled to Chicago: In 1979, Pope John Paul II’s three-hour Mass in Grant Park attracted anywhere from 500,000 to 1.5 million attendees.
Cardinal Blaise Cupich, who oversees the Chicago Archdiocese, said last year that he won’t pressure the new pope to make an appearance in Chicago immediately, but he pledged that once the pontiff is ready to travel to the United States, “you can believe that I’m going to be lobbying for Chicago.”
“Then I would put in a bid for him to put Chicago on the itinerary,” Cupich said shortly after the pope’s installation.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker have both extended invitations to the pontiff to return to his hometown. Johnson’s invite came during a papal audience in April.
“I believe that he was definitely appreciative of the warm exchange and invite and we will look forward to hosting Mass in Chicago,” the mayor said at the time.
Several months ago, Leo’s favorite baseball team, the White Sox, offered him the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a game of his choosing. The team is celebrating its famous fan Aug. 11 by giving Sox-themed miters — or “Pope hats” in laymen’s terms —to those in attendance.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.