UPDATE (May 8, 2025, 1:27 p.m. ET): Robert Prevost of the United States has been elected as the new leader of the Catholic Church — and the first American pope — and will be known as Pope Leo XIV. White smoke rose out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney Wednesday, signifying the conclave’s selection of Pope Francis’ successor on the cardinals’ second day of voting.
President Donald Trump pleaded ignorance to an apparent AI-generated image depicting him as the pope that was posted to his and the White House’s social media accounts, accusing the media of fabricating the backlash over the image.
“You mean they can’t take a joke? You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media,” Trump told reporters Monday about the image, which shows him in papal clothing. “No, the Catholics loved it.”
He added: “I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. That’s not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI. But I know nothing about it.”
Trump’s Truth Social account and the White House’s X account both posted the image Friday night, sparking near-instant criticism from Catholics at home and abroad who said it was offensive.
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” the New York State Catholic Conference wrote in a post on X the next morning. “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.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, told reporters Sunday that the image was in poor taste. “I hope he didn’t have anything to do with it,” Dolan said about Trump. “It wasn’t good.
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also weighed in. In a post on X, Renzi wrote in Italian that the image “offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown.”








