Trump posts AI-generated image of himself as Pope & says he would like to be Pope
US President Donald Trump has sparked controversy after posting an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal attire. The image was shared just days after Trump jokingly said he would “like to be pope” during a media interaction.
The post has drawn mixed reactions online. While some social media users found it humorous, others criticised it as disrespectful—especially coming shortly after the death of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis died last month at the age of 88. According to a death certificate released last week, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli confirmed the cause of death as a stroke and heart failure, Reuters reported. President Trump was among several world leaders who attended the funeral.
Following Trump’s social media post, several users accused him of mocking the late pope.
“This is disrespectful to the Church and God himself… he’s literally the antichrist,” one user said
Another commented, “This is disgusting and entirely offensive.”
A third person posted, “This is extremely disrespectful and narcissistic. Republicans really voted for that.”
Another user added, “How disrespectful to Catholics. That is what Trump and his maggots are all about—disrespect and meanness and stupidity. How dare you mock the process we Catholics go through to pick a new pope.”
‘I’d like to be pope’
The controversy follows Trump’s recent remarks during a media interaction, where he was asked who he would like to see succeed Pope Francis. “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” he said.
He added, “I have no preference. I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham responded to Trump’s comment with a light-hearted post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope. This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!” he wrote.
Graham added, “The first Pope–US President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke… Trump MMXXVIII!”
