Did President Donald Trump urge his Catholic supporters to start a "MAGA Reformation" and form a new "American Catholicism"? No, that's not true: The account that started a rumor describes itself as satire. No news organizations reported the purported story, which would have been heavily covered.
The claim originated from a post (archived here) on X published by @HalfwayPost on April 16, 2026. It read:
BREAKING: After feuding for days with Pope Leo XIV, Donald Trump is reportedly threatening to demand all his Catholic fans start a 'MAGA Reformation,' renounce the Vatican, and start a competing branch of 'American Catholicism' with its own US-based Pope that he wants to appoint.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @HalfwayPost on X.com)
The account that published the claim, however, was not a reputable news organization. Its self-description (archived here) read:
Halfway true comedy and satire for your doomscrolling ...
It continued:
I don't report the facts ...
No credible news organization (archived here) reported the purported story.
