Trump: Pope Francis ‘doesn’t understand’ America’s problems

Donald Trump dismissed Pope Francis’s upcoming visit to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday, arguing the Catholic leader is in the dark on America’s border crisis.

“I think that the Pope is a very political person,” he said on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.”

{mosads}“I think he doesn’t understand the problems that our country has,” the GOP presidential front-runner continued.

“I don’t think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico. I think Mexico got him to do it because they want to keep the border just the way it is. They’re making a fortune and we’re losing.”

Francis plans on traveling through Mexico from Feb. 12-18, according to Vatican Radio.

Time reported Thursday that the pope plans on visiting regions deeply hurt by Mexico’s drug cartels, including Michoacan and Ciudad Juarez.

“The Mexico of violence, the Mexico of corruption, the Mexico of drugs trafficking, the Mexico of cartels, is not the Mexico our Mother wants,” the pope said of his journey on Feb. 3.

Francis’s visit differs from the last papal trek through the Latin American nation, Time said Thursday. Then-Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2012, but stayed in the predominantly safe and Catholic state of Leon.

Francis’s approach differs, Time added, given that his trek includes areas plagued by narcotics trafficking and violent crime.

The Argentinean-born spiritual leader has made poverty and Latin American struggles major parts of his tenure leading the Vatican.

Trump has repeatedly vowed he is building a wall along America’s southern border as a means of halting illegal immigration.

He has frequently linked illegal immigrants with the drug trade and violent crime since launching his Oval Office bid last year.