Catholic leaders criticize Trump for posting apparent AI photo of himself as the pope

Some Catholic leaders and at least one U.S. Catholic group are criticizing President Trump after he posted on social media what appears to be an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as the pope.

Trump posted the image on his Truth Social account on Friday night, and shortly after it was reposted by the White House on its official X account.

Trump traveled to the Vatican late last month to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who had died several days earlier at age 88. The papal conclave to elect the next pope is set to begin on Wednesday.

The image shows Trump in the pope’s traditional white cassock, wearing a gold cross around his neck as well as the iconic papal hat, or mitre.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York who is friendly with Trump, told journalists in Rome Sunday morning that he hoped Trump “didn’t have anything to do with” the image. When asked if it offended him, Dolan said, “it wasn’t good.”

The New York State Catholic Conference said in a post on X: “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. 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.”

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois said in a Facebook post that by publishing the image “Trump mocks God, the Catholic Church, and the Papacy.”

Paprocki added the image was “deeply offensive” — especially as Catholics continue to mourn Pope Francis and prepare for the papal conclave. “President Trump owes an apology to Catholics and all people of good will,” he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment Sunday morning.

But the Associated Press reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has responded to the criticism, saying “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.”

Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, said on social media Saturday afternoon that “[a]s a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen.”

Last week, when asked by reporters who he’d like to see elected pope, Trump said: “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” before adding, “no, I don’t know, I have no preference. I must say we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good” — an apparent reference to Dolan.