By Erin Doherty
The White House posted an AI-generated photo of President Donald Trump depicted as the pope on Friday, days after he joked that he’d “like to be pope.”
The image — which first appeared on Trump’s Truth Social account — comes as cardinals are set to begin conclave on May 7 to elect the next pope.
Trump attended Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome last weekend, during which he also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On Tuesday, days after returning from Francis’ funeral, Trump joked to reporters outside the White House that he’d “like to be pope,” adding, “that would be my number one choice.”
He followed up by saying that he has “no preference” over who is ultimately selected.
Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with the Roman Catholic pontiff one day before his death.
Francis died of a stroke that ultimately led to irreversible heart failure, according to a death certificate issued by the Vatican.
The post of the AI-generated image sparked widespread social media response, with some users condemning the image, while others defended it as a joke.
Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, an outspoken Trump critic, criticized the post and said it “affirms how unserious and incapable [Trump] is.”
It’s not the first time that the White House shared an AI-generated image of Trump.
In February, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich posted an AI-generated image of Trump depicted as a king, after the administration moved to eliminate New York City’s congestion pricing program.
Trump referred to himself as the king in a Truth Social post touting that “congestion pricing is dead.”
“Manhattan and all of New York, is saved. Long live the king,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in February.
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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
