The White House posted an AI-generated image of US President Donald Trump as the Pope
The White House on Saturday posted an AI-generated image of US President Donald Trump shows as the leader of the Catholic Church.
Trup had jokingly said a few days earlier that he would "like to be pope", and originally posted the image on his own social media network, Truth Social. This was later shared by the White House.
The image was posted by the US president just a few days before the conclave to elect a new pontiff is set to begin on 7 May following Pope Francis' death on Easter Sunday.
The death of a pope and election of another is a matter of utmost solemnity for Catholics, for whom the pope is Christ’s 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’s hat, was the topic of several questions during the Vatican’s 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.
The post caused considerable outrage online, with the official New York State Catholic Conference account saying in a post of its own that "there is nothing clever or funny about this image."
The organisation, which represents New York state bishops, added that the US President should not "mock us".
When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, “President 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.”
Trump most recently visted the Vatican last Saturday, in what was his first foreign trip during his second term, in order to attend the funeral of Pope Francis.
Shortly before the funeral began, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss further steps towards ending the war with Russia, as well as a minerals pact that was later signed between the US and Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025 AP/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
Trup had jokingly said a few days earlier that he would "like to be pope", and originally posted the image on his own social media network, Truth Social. This was later shared by the White House.
The image was posted by the US president just a few days before the conclave to elect a new pontiff is set to begin on 7 May following Pope Francis' death on Easter Sunday.
The death of a pope and election of another is a matter of utmost solemnity for Catholics, for whom the pope is Christ’s 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’s hat, was the topic of several questions during the Vatican’s 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.
The post caused considerable outrage online, with the official New York State Catholic Conference account saying in a post of its own that "there is nothing clever or funny about this image."
The organisation, which represents New York state bishops, added that the US President should not "mock us".
When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, “President 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.”
Trump most recently visted the Vatican last Saturday, in what was his first foreign trip during his second term, in order to attend the funeral of Pope Francis.
Shortly before the funeral began, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss further steps towards ending the war with Russia, as well as a minerals pact that was later signed between the US and Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025 AP/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
Trump's pick for pope
Whilst speaking to reporters last Tuesday, Trump joked that he himself would be his "number one choice", before adding "I must say we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who's very good."
Trump was referring to New York Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, one of 10 US cardinals who will be voting in the conclave.
Trump’s pitch might have cost Dolan support, however, as the reason conclaes are held in secrecy, with cardinals sequestered for the duration, in order to prevent outside secular power from influencing their choice.
Trump is a troll – but his 'ugly' pope selfie demands a damning response
D. Earl Stephens
May 3, 2025
Donald Trump (Photo via Reuters)
The America-attacking Donald Trump descended further into the sewer on Friday, once again proving that his singular talent during his long, miserable life has been the ability to somehow always go lower, while dragging the willing accomplices who kiss his ample a-- down into the stink and the bilge with him.
I debated about whether to write about this one, because as we all know that while narcissists and 11-year-old bullies don’t love negative attention, they are absolutely terrified of getting no attention at all.
pic.twitter.com/x2HrR939tn
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025
So when I saw the White House fly the hideous post (above) with no comment Friday night, I was repulsed and angered, which I know is exactly what the America-attacker and his odious enablers want.
Look, I am not a religious man, and in fact have some serious issues with the Catholic Church, so the trumpeting of this childish crap by Pope Felon the 1st and his ghastly followers doesn’t offend my senses from that standpoint. I won’t be pounding on the Bible and citing any of what I am sure are 1,473 passages in the good book that address this kind of sacrilegious gunk.
That would be sanctimonious on my part.
I will defend Catholics who take offense to it, though, because it is no doubt intentionally hurtful, which is the other thing the dead-inside Trump is effortlessly good at. Whether it be the disabled, our fallen, women, or people of color, the grotesque man-child will always gleefully manufacture any opportunity he can find to pile insult onto tragedy.
I’ll take it the woman-abusing felon who a judge said is an adjudicated rapist is butt-hurt that the recently deceased Pope Francis had the good taste to distance himself as much as possible from the devil himself.
Like most human beings, Francis knew Trump to be an abuser, not a healer ... a liar, not a truth-teller ... an unrepentant felon, not a law-abiding citizen.
Ugly.
The normal, decent and God-fearing folks across the world will never understand how any of this is OK, or far, far worse, how this kind of unholy hell was able to ascend to power not once, but twice, while violently attacking America in between.
So for that reason, and that reason alone, I decided to take public issue with this taxpayer-funded, childish display of insult and hate, and alert you in the event you didn't see it.
I know this will only fill the veins of the attention-seeking monster with the poison that fuels him, but as sure as I am typing this, sooner or later it is going to kill him. The religious true-believers, and wise-guy columnists like myself will align to tell you that when he finally goes the way of Francis, it will be straight down not up.
Remember: It’s his singular talent.
Can I get an amen?
(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.)
D. Earl Stephens
May 3, 2025
RAW STORY
Donald Trump (Photo via Reuters)
The America-attacking Donald Trump descended further into the sewer on Friday, once again proving that his singular talent during his long, miserable life has been the ability to somehow always go lower, while dragging the willing accomplices who kiss his ample a-- down into the stink and the bilge with him.
I debated about whether to write about this one, because as we all know that while narcissists and 11-year-old bullies don’t love negative attention, they are absolutely terrified of getting no attention at all.
pic.twitter.com/x2HrR939tn
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025
So when I saw the White House fly the hideous post (above) with no comment Friday night, I was repulsed and angered, which I know is exactly what the America-attacker and his odious enablers want.
Look, I am not a religious man, and in fact have some serious issues with the Catholic Church, so the trumpeting of this childish crap by Pope Felon the 1st and his ghastly followers doesn’t offend my senses from that standpoint. I won’t be pounding on the Bible and citing any of what I am sure are 1,473 passages in the good book that address this kind of sacrilegious gunk.
That would be sanctimonious on my part.
I will defend Catholics who take offense to it, though, because it is no doubt intentionally hurtful, which is the other thing the dead-inside Trump is effortlessly good at. Whether it be the disabled, our fallen, women, or people of color, the grotesque man-child will always gleefully manufacture any opportunity he can find to pile insult onto tragedy.
I’ll take it the woman-abusing felon who a judge said is an adjudicated rapist is butt-hurt that the recently deceased Pope Francis had the good taste to distance himself as much as possible from the devil himself.
Like most human beings, Francis knew Trump to be an abuser, not a healer ... a liar, not a truth-teller ... an unrepentant felon, not a law-abiding citizen.
Ugly.
The normal, decent and God-fearing folks across the world will never understand how any of this is OK, or far, far worse, how this kind of unholy hell was able to ascend to power not once, but twice, while violently attacking America in between.
So for that reason, and that reason alone, I decided to take public issue with this taxpayer-funded, childish display of insult and hate, and alert you in the event you didn't see it.
I know this will only fill the veins of the attention-seeking monster with the poison that fuels him, but as sure as I am typing this, sooner or later it is going to kill him. The religious true-believers, and wise-guy columnists like myself will align to tell you that when he finally goes the way of Francis, it will be straight down not up.
Remember: It’s his singular talent.
Can I get an amen?
(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.)
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