The president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, has addressed the controversy surrounding an AI-generated image depicting him dressed as the Pope—a photo he shared on Truth Social last Friday and that was later reposted by the White House on X.
The image drew sharp criticism from the Catholic Conference of New York State, which called it offensive and poorly timed.
“There is nothing clever or funny about it,” the group stated. “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis, and the cardinals are preparing for a solemn conclave. Do not mock us.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump, highlighting his visit to Italy to pay respects to the late Pope and his longstanding support for Catholic values and religious freedom.
When asked about the criticism during a press briefing on Monday at the Oval Office, where Trump was announcing the 2027 NFL Draft, he dismissed the backlash, attributing it to media sensationalism.
“You don’t mean the Catholics — you mean the fake news media,” Trump said. “The Catholics loved it. I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made a picture of me as the Pope and posted it online. It wasn’t me. I don’t know where it came from — maybe AI — but I know nothing about it.”
Trump added that he only saw the image for the first time on Sunday night. “My wife thought it was cute,” he noted.
In a light-hearted moment, he joked, “To the best of my knowledge, Popes aren’t big on getting married. Are they? Not that we know of.”
Brushing off concerns that the photo damages the credibility of official communications, Trump said, “Give me a break — somebody did it for fun. It’s fun.”
