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United States President Donald Trump has faced backlash, including from Catholics, after he posted an artificial intelligence-generated photo showing himself as the pope days in advance of a conclave to elect the next pontiff. Trump, who is not a Catholic and does not attend church regularly, posted the image on his Truth Social platform late on Friday, less than a week after attending the funeral of Pope Francis, who died last month at the age of 88. The White House then reposted it on its official X account.

The image shows an unsmiling Trump seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised. It came after Trump joked to reporters this week that he would like to be the next pope, just days before cardinals are due to start the conclave to elect the successor of Pope Francis. Asked who he would like to succeed Francis, Trump said: “I’d like to be pope, that would be my number one choice.”

Trump went on to say he did not have a preference, but said there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”. He appeared to be referring to the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, a theological conservative and fiercely opposed to abortion. Dolan said on Sunday that Trump’s AI pope image “wasn’t good” but declined to say whether the White House should apologize to offended Catholics. “I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that,” he said before a Mass at a Rome church.

The irreverent posting, however, drew instant outrage on X, including from Republicans against Trump, a group that describes itself as “pro-democracy conservative Republicans fighting Trump & Trumpism”. The group reposted the image, calling it “a blatant insult to Catholics and a mockery of their faith”. The New York State Catholic Conference, which says it represents bishops of the state in working with the government, voiced sharp criticism of the picture. “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” it wrote in a post on X. “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.”

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to comment on the image during a briefing with journalists about the process of electing a new pope, which begins on May 7. Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wrote on X: “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown. In the meantime, the American economy risks recession and the dollar loses value.” Italy’s left-leaning La Repubblica also featured the image on its homepage on Saturday with a commentary accusing Trump of “pathological megalomania”.

When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “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.”

Pope Francis had arguably been one of the most powerful moral voices on the world stage critical of Trump. When Trump first ran for president in 2016, Francis was unsparing on his signature promise to build a border wall to seal off Mexico. Francis had told reporters: “Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian.” Cardinals will gather on May 7 in a conclave in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

Terron Gold