U.S. President Donald Trump has joined Pope Francis in offering any help they can for a terminally ill British infant.

Trump said in a Twitter comment Monday that if there was anything he could do for Charlie Gard, the 10-month-old child with a rare genetic disease, “we would be delighted to do so.”

The baby’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, have lost European court decisions to doctors who want to take the baby off life support at a London hospital after reaching the conclusion that he has no chance of survival.

The parents, refusing to accept the medical prognosis, have unsuccessfully sought to reclaim their child from the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in an effort to take their baby to the United States for an experimental treatment. The hospital and the parents late last week said the child will be given “more time” before life support is withdrawn.

The infant, born last August, has mitochrondrial DNA depletion syndrome. The disease, caused by a genetic mutation, leads to weakened muscles and organ dysfunction. He is unable to breathe unaided.

The Vatican said Sunday, “The Holy Father is following with affection and emotion the situation of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents. He is praying for them, in the hope that their desire to accompany and care for their own child until the end will be respected.”
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