Trump can’t bring himself to do this — even if it means not getting into heaven

National PoliticsPresident Donald Trump arrives at the White House following a weekend trip to Florida, in Washington, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)AP Photo/Nathan HowardBy Howard Koplowitz | hkoplowitz@al.comDonald Trump said he “probably cannot” forgive his enemies, even if it means he won’t make it into heaven, the president told Ross Douthat in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday.“Let’s say you pass away. You’re entering the next life. All you have to do to enter paradise is feel love and forgiveness for James Comey, Nancy Pelosi, anyone who you have expressed hate for over the years. Do you think you can do it?” Douthat asked Trump.“Well, then I wouldn’t be real, would I?” the president responded. “Sure, the easy answer to that is, ‘oh yes, I could forgive.’”But Trump said the hatred for his enemies is too strong.“I found them to be extremely dishonest people, very bad people, very bad for our country. I love our country far more than I could love people, and people like that — the answer is ‘no.’ I want to be honest,” the president said.Douthat reminded Trump that the question was about the president’s judgement before God. The president did not change his answer.“Before the judgement? No, I think they were very bad people. And I dislike — I can use the word ‘hate’ — I do hate some of my enemies. I think they’ve been terrible. Look what they put me through — the weaponization,” Trump said, an apparent reference to the charges brought against him after his first term.Douthat pushed back on Trump’s answer.“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? After all that’s been given to you?” the “60 Minutes” correspondent asked the president.“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, no,” Trump said. “Because I do hate some of my enemies — and I always will.”At another point in the “60 Minutes” interview, Trump suggested that forgiveness for his enemies is not a requisite to getting into heaven.“Well, I’m a religious person. So, in theory I go to heaven,” Trump said.Asked by Douthat if that’s where he thinks he’s going, Trump said, “I hope so. I don’t want to go to hell.”The president’s response was criticized online.“He is a sociopath,” former Republican congressman-turned-Trump critic Joe Walsh posted to X. “He is humanly incapable of shame, humanly incapable of forgiveness. He is quite simply an utterly horrible human being.”“I was STUNNED by this exchange,” added the popular X account BrooklynDad_Defiant! “trump [sic] is SO petty, that if he were standing before the pearly gates and needed to let go of his hatred for Nancy Pelosi and James Comey, he could NOT do it. He would rather go to hell. I hope his stupid a-- goes to hell.”Trump dangles more firings as speculation of who’s next skyrocketsTrump on 2028 endorsement: ‘Maybe I’m better off not getting involved’Will Dana White be Trump’s new press secretary? Here’s the latest update.These 3 Democrats won their Senate races even before Election Day. Here’s how.After GOP losses, Trump plans next clout-boosting moveHoward Koplowitz is AL.com's Breaking & Trending Reporter for afternoons and nights. He has been with AL.com since 2015 and has served in a variety of roles, ranging from coverage of Donald Trump's first...