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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself as the pope on his Truth Social platform, which has since been posted to the White House’s official X account.
The image shows the president in papal robes with a gold cross hung around his neck. It was posted without a caption or any explanation. It has close to 140,000 likes on X, and has been divisive – a number of people have implored the president to take it down, stating that it is offensive to Catholics, while others have dismissed it as being a joke.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025
Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 on Easter Monday, leading to speculation as to who his successor may be. When Trump was asked who he would like to see take his place, he joked that he would like to take the role on himself.
He then said in a reference to New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan: “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.”
US Senator Lindsay Graham urged people to “keep an open mind about this possibility” that Trump may take on the role of the pontiff – although it is not a possibility, as Trump is not a baptised Catholic.
National Catholic Register also jokingly claimed that Trump would be ineligible because any candidate, according to Canon Law, “must be of sound mind”.
The conclave to elect the new pope will begin on 7 May.
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