President Donald Trump faced criticism after an AI-generated image depicting him as the pope was posted on his Truth Social account and the official White House X account. The image, shared shortly after Pope Francis‘ funeral, showed Trump in papal attire, leading to backlash from Catholic leaders who deemed it disrespectful. Trump denied involvement in creating the image, stating he had “nothing to do with it” and suggesting it might have been AI-generated. He added that First Lady Melania Trump found the image “cute” and remarked, “Isn’t that nice?”
The New York State Catholic Conference condemned the image, stating, “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, described it as “brutta figura,” an Italian term meaning an embarrassing misstep.
Despite the criticism, Trump dismissed concerns, attributing the backlash to the “fake news media” and asserting that “Catholics loved it.” He emphasized the importance of humor, saying, “You have to have a little fun, don’t you?”
The incident occurred days before the papal conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor, intensifying the controversy. Trump had previously joked about becoming pope, stating it would be his “number one choice,” though he acknowledged that papal celibacy rules would disqualify him.
