is praisinga day after he blasted the pontiff for seemingly questioning his faith and criticizing his proposal to build a wall on the nation's southern border.

"I think he's a terrific person, frankly," Trump said of Francis during an interview with Fox News's Greta Van Susteren slated to air Friday night.

ADVERTISEMENT

"But to me it's illegal immigration," he continued. "I don't think the pope really understood, in terms of the crime problem and the problems of illegal immigration."

A Vatican official on Friday sought to clarify the pontiff's widely reported criticism Thursday of Trump's plan to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing it wasn't a "personal attack."

Asked about Trump, Francis told reporters aboard his airplane on Thursday that "a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian."