Trump Draws Criticism for AI-Generated Image of Himself as Pope

United States President Donald Trump is facing widespread criticism, including from within the Catholic community, after posting an artificial intelligence-generated image depicting himself as the pope, Al Jazeera reports.

The post came just days before the start of the conclave to elect the successor to the late Pope Francis.

Trump, who is not Catholic and does not regularly attend church, shared the image on his Truth Social platform late Friday. The White House subsequently reposted the image on its official X account, further amplifying its reach. The image depicts a solemn Trump seated in an ornate chair, clad in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised.

The post comes shortly after Trump jokingly told reporters that he would like to be the next pope. His comments and the AI-generated image have been widely perceived as disrespectful, particularly given their proximity to the funeral of Pope Francis, who passed away last month at the age of 88.

During his interactions with reporters this week, Trump quipped:

“I’d like to be pope, that would be my number one choice.”

He added that he did not have a specific preference for Francis’s successor, but noted a “very good” cardinal in New York, seemingly referring to Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Dolan, a theological conservative known for his strong opposition to abortion, has served as the Archbishop of New York since 2009.

Archbishop Dolan responded to the controversy on Sunday, stating that Trump’s AI pope image “wasn’t good,” but declined to comment on whether the White House should issue an apology to Catholics who found the image offensive.

“I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that,” he said before a Mass at a Rome church.