In a latest social media stunt, US President Donald Trump posted an AI (artificial intelligence) generated image of himself as a pope.
According to Independent, just 11 days after the death of Pope Francis, Trump on social media shared an AI-generated image of himself dressed up as a Catholic pope sitting in a papal throne, all in white, with a large crucifix around his neck and his right hand raised as he is giving someone a blessing.
This came after the Republican president on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, was asked at the White House who he believed would be the next pope, to which he replied, “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice.”
Trump, who attended the pope's funeral last week in Rome along with his wife, Melania Trump, posted the image on both his Truth Social Donald J. Trump account and his “Donald J. Trump Posts from His Truth Social” on X.
Netizens react to Donald Trump pope pictures
Trump-Pope pictures quickly spark a controversy on social media and calls from users to delete the post.
Some of the users find the post “disgusting”, “blasphemous”, and “disrespectful”, while some find it “hilarious” and the “ultimate troll.”
A user wrote, “Trump, as someone outside the U.S., I find your post utterly disrespectful to the Catholic community worldwide. The papacy is a sacred institution for millions, and this mockery is an affront to their beliefs.”
“Please take this down. Many Catholics, myself included, find this a great disrespect to the past and future leader of our church,” another pleaded.
The third one penned, “Trump Tracker. Is anyone else surprised that Trump would be so brazenly sacrilegious? Me either. Classless.”
Notably, the papal conclave will select the new pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on May 7, 2025.
