Trump posts AI-generated photo of himself dressed as the pope

U.S. President Donald Trump, dressed in papal attire, made a post on social media. The post was shared by The White House through a platform previously known as Twitter.

Trump was present at the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome last weekend, where he also had a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Upon his return to the White House on Tuesday, Trump joked with reporters outside, saying he would “like to be pope” and that it would be his top choice. He later mentioned that he had no preference for who would be selected as the pope.

Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with Pope Francis a day before the pontiff’s passing. Pope Francis passed away due to a stroke that led to irreversible heart failure, as confirmed by a death certificate from the Vatican.

The image posted by AI generated various reactions on social media, with some users defending it as a joke while others strongly criticized it. The New York State Catholic Conference, representing the state’s bishops, condemned the post, stating that there was nothing funny or clever about it, especially during the time of selecting a new pope.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, a vocal critic of Trump, also criticized the post, calling it disrespectful and highlighting Trump’s incapability.

Conservative commentator Bill Kristol questioned Vance about the disrespect shown towards the Holy Father, to which Vance responded, referencing Kristol’s support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

When asked to comment on the image criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump, stating that he had flown to Italy to pay his respects to Pope Francis and had always supported Catholics and religious freedom.

This wasn’t the first time the White House shared a controversial AI-generated image of Trump. In the past, an image of Trump depicted as a king had been posted after the administration’s decision to eliminate New York City’s congestion pricing program. Trump referred to himself as the king in a post on Truth Social, celebrating the end of the congestion pricing initiative.