Donald Trump Sparks Outrage After Posting AI-Generated Image Of Himself As Pope

U.S. President Donald Trump has caused a huge uproar on social media after posting an AI-generated picture of himself as the head of the Catholic Church.

Trump's actions come a week after Pope Francis was buried and days before the Catholic Church elects a new pope.

Several netizens expressed disappointment with Trump, who earlier joked that he would like to be the pope.

Trump is never too far from controversy and caused some ruckus on Friday when he posted an AI-generated image of himself as the pope.

The President shared the image on his Truth Social account. It showed him dressed in the pontiff's traditional regalia with one finger raised.

The 78-year-old didn't add any caption to the post, which the official White House X account also reposted.

Trump's actions didn't go down well with many netizens who took turns slamming him on social media.

The President didn't win any admirers with his antics on social media, as many people shared how they felt about his latest move.

One person on X wrote, "As President of the United States, posting a picture of himself as Pope a few days after the Pope's death is neither funny, nor does it present statesmanship and respectful behavior."

They added, "Rather, it shows the boundless arrogance and childish behavior of a man who believes he is above everything, can get away with anything, and is the head of everyone."

Another person shared, "This has got to be the most baneful and sacrilegious public statement from the United States Government. If shame and moral scruples had any value in this Administration, this abominable post would be deleted. But alas, depravity reigns supreme."

A third X user wrote, "Disgraceful and yet another utter embarrassment of the American people to the international community, including 1.4 billion Catholics whose church is still mourning over the loss of a most humble and loving servant of God."

Amid the outrage Trump's post generated, some people saw the funny side of his post and asked X's AI assistant, Grok, to edit the image and add more features.

For instance, one person asked Grok to make Trump look like a clown in the image, while another asked the AI assistant to make mud all over his outfit.

Meanwhile, another X user wondered why people were making a fuss over the post. They wrote, "Why people still don't get this is satire and humor is beyond me. Actually nice to have some humor in the White House."

Another person opined, "I love atheists' and non Catholics' performative outrage in the comments. If you can tolerate drag queens mocking the pope and nuns and the Olympics mocking the Last Supper, I think you can survive this."

Donald Trump's post came a few days after he joked about his desire to be the pope.

While speaking to reporters about the Catholic Church's pope selection process, Trump said, "I'd like to be pope. That would be my number one choice."

The US President also said he had no preferred candidate for the next pope, though he described the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, as "very good."

Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham joined in the humor by reposting a video of Trump sharing his desire to be the pope and backed him for the role.

Graham wrote on X, "I 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!"

The South Carolina senator added, "The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke…. Trump MMXXVIII!"

The Catholic Church was thrown into mourning on Easter Monday following the death of Pope Francis.

The late pontiff was buried on April 26 and had many world leaders, including Donald Trump, who was accused of breaking the dress code at the funeral, in attendance.

Following Pope Francis's burial, the conclave to elect the next pope will begin on May 7.

Around 100 cardinal electors will enter the sealed Sistine Chapel to vote secretly, requiring a two-thirds majority to elect the new Pope, who will be the 267th in the Catholic Church's history.

Strict rules forbid communication with the outside world. Upon election, the new Pope accepts his role and name, receives homage, and gives the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing, officially assuming authority over the Catholic Church.