DISCLAIMER: This article was first published in May 2025
President Trump went to the Vatican late last month for Pope Francis’ funeral. A few days later, he joked about wanting to be the next pope, after a reporter asked him who he favored in the upcoming papal conclave, a proposal endorsed by the president’s friend and sycophant, Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Then, over the weekend, Trump posted an AI-generated picture of himself as pope, one that was shared by the official social media accounts of the White House:
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025
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Soon after, the official X account of the Catholic Bishops of New York State called this out, stating that “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.”
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. https://t.co/ortxbkDlT5
— NYS Catholic Conference (@NYSCatholicConf) May 3, 2025
The former premier of Italy, Matteo Renzi, was also critical of the post on X. Per an AP translation, Renzi wrote that “this is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right-wing world enjoys clowning around… Meanwhile, the U.S. economy risks recession , and the dollar loses value. The sovereignists are doing damage everywhere.”
Questa è una immagine che offende i credenti, insulta le istituzioni e dimostra che il capo della destra mondiale si diverte a fare il clown. Nel frattempo l’economia americana rischia la recessione e il dollaro perde valore. I sovranisti fanno danni, ovunque pic.twitter.com/fwSpqExDVt
— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) May 3, 2025
Trump is not Catholic, a priest or a member of the College of Cardinals, and is already plenty busy with a different job that he has little interest in relinquishing, would seem an unlikely candidate to serve as pope. And this is even before one considers the necessary vows of poverty and chastity, two other things that Trump has shown little interest in historically.
Others, such as James Martin, SJ, pointed out the likely double standards.
Jesuits are always supposed to give people the benefit of the doubt. So even though I find this deeply offensive, I will presume that Mr. Trump meant this light-heartedly (even though he had just recently returned from Pope Francis’s Funeral Mass, and he has a Catholic Vice… pic.twitter.com/tRy3ROLoU3
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) May 3, 2025
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
