NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope as the mourning of Pope Francis continues and just days before the conclave to elect his successor is set to begin. Trump’s action drew rebukes from a group representing Catholic bishops in New York and among Italians.
The image, shared Friday night on Trump’s Truth Social site and later reposted by the White House on its official X account, raised eyebrows on social media and at the Vatican, which is still in the period of nine days of official mourning following Francis’ death on . Catholic cardinals have been celebrating daily Masses in his memory and are due to open the conclave to elect his successor on Wednesday.
The death of a pope and election of another is a matter of utmost solemnity for Catholics, for whom the pope is Christ鈥檚 vicar on Earth. That is all the more true in Italy, where the papacy is held in high esteem even by nonreligious Italians.
The image featuring Trump in a white cassock and pointed miter, or bishop鈥檚 hat, was the topic of several questions during the Vatican鈥檚 daily conclave briefing Saturday. Italian and Spanish news reports lamented its poor taste and said it was offensive, given that the period of official mourning is still underway.
Left-leaning former Premier Matteo Renzi said the image was shameful. 鈥淭his is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right-wing world enjoys clowning around,鈥 Renzi wrote on X. 鈥淢eanwhile, the U.S. economy risks recession and the dollar loses value. The sovereignists are doing damage, everywhere.鈥
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, declined to comment.
In the United States, the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops of the state in working with government, accused Trump of mockery.
鈥淭here is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,鈥 “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.鈥
Italy鈥檚 left-leaning La Repubblica also featured the image on its homepage Saturday with a commentary accusing Trump of “pathological megalomania.鈥
Asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, 鈥淧resident Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty.鈥
Jack Posobiec, a prominent far-right influencer and Trump ally who recently participated in a Catholic prayer event in March at Trump’s Florida resort, also defended the president.
“I鈥檓 Catholic. We鈥檝e all been making jokes about the upcoming Pope selection all week. It鈥檚 called a sense of humor,” .
The episode comes after Trump joked last week about his interest in the vacancy. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” the thrice married president, who is not Catholic, told reporters.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, piled on.
鈥淚 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!鈥 . 鈥淭he first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke鈥. Trump MMXXVIII!鈥
Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic and was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Francis before the pope died, also becoming pope, suggesting Rubio could add it to the long list of titles he holds, including national security adviser and acting archivist.
Beyond floating himself for the job, Trump also has put in a plug for Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.
鈥淚 have no preference. I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out a place called New York who’s very good. So we’ll see what happens,鈥 he said.
Dolan, 75, is one of 10 U.S. cardinals who will be voting in the conclave, but Trump鈥檚 pitch might have cost Dolan support.
The reason conclaves are held in secrecy, with cardinals sequestered for the duration, is to prevent outside secular powers from influencing their choice, as occurred in centuries past.
There is an old saying about campaigning for the job of pope or of being promoted excessively, especially by outsiders: If you 鈥渆nter a conclave as pope, you leave as a cardinal.鈥
While Trump attended Francis鈥 funeral, he and Vance have clashed with U.S. bishops in general and Francis in particular over the administration鈥檚 hard line stance on immigration and its efforts to deport migrants en masse. Right before he was hospitalized in February for pneumonia, Francis issued a of the administration’s mass deportation plans and Vance’s theological justification of it.
Over 12 years as pope, Francis tried to remake the U.S. Catholic hierarchy more in his image, elevating pastors who prioritized social justice and migration issues over culture warriors who were more favored by his more doctrinaire predecessors St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. A new pope who is more conservative could reverse that effort.
Trump has nominated as his ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, whose has been aggressively covering the pre-conclave days at the Vatican. It was one of the main disseminators in English-speaking media of a report, flatly and officially denied by the Vatican, that Cardinal Pietro Parolin had had a health scare this past week that required medical attention.
Parolin was the secretary of state under Francis and is seen as a leading contender to be pope. He is also the main architect of the Vatican鈥檚 China policy and its controversial 2018 deal with Beijing over bishop nominations —
President Trump did a grunting impression of a female weightlifter as he criticized the participation of transgender women in sports. The President spoke on Thursday night at the University of Alabama. (AP Video / May 2, 2025)
___ Winfield reported from Vatican City.
