Just one week after Pope Francis’s funeral, US President Donald Trump shared an artificial intelligence image of himself as pope.
The Republican leader, who is not Catholic, shared the picture on Truth Social. It depicts him with a big crucifix hanging from his neck and a white papal hat, commonly known as a mitre.
Trump had previously joked with reporters how he wouldn’t be against succeeding the late Catholic leader, adding: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”
Speaking on the White House lawn, he joked that there was a “very good” cardinal in New York but that he had no choice for the next pope.
The conclave is now convening to choose a new head of the Catholic Church, just one week after Pope Francis’ funeral in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
After devoted his ‘entire life’ to serving God and the Church, the 88-year-old died on Easter Monday. In St. Peter’s Square, he spent his last hours with the faithful before coming out to bless thousands of people.
Online users are furious with Trump’s remark, calling it “a great disrespect” and calling on the US president to take it down right once.
“Trump is literally mocking the Christian world with this image he shared,” one said: “And on a day when Catholics are mourning the death of their spiritual leader, Pope Francis.”
“Is anyone else surprised that Trump would be so brazenly sacrilegious? Me either. Classless,” a second said.
“Trump, as someone outside the U.S., I find your post utterly disrespectful to the Catholic community worldwide,” a third added.
“The papacy is a sacred institution for millions, and this mockery is an affront to their beliefs.”
“Please take this down,” one follower pleaded: “May Catholics myself included, find this a great disrespect to the past and future leader of our church.”
“Completely disrespectful. The Catholic community is mourning and you post this?”
But it’s not the only apparent gaffe the US president has made since the Pontiff’s passing. He was also accused of wearing a blue suit and tie to Pope Francis’ funeral, which was against the dress code.
Men were required to wear a dark suit, a long black tie, and a white shirt as part of the tight dress code for the Vatican burial. Black was also required for jackets, umbrellas, long socks, and shoes.
The president wore a mid-blue outfit with a pin that displayed the American flag and a glittering blue tie. He was seated in the front row alongside hundreds of international leaders and monarchs.
Many of the gathered mourners, including Sir Keir Starmer, have adopted the custom of wearing smart, dark clothing as a symbol of respect.
Melania was pictured wearing a conservative black coat, gloves, and a lace veil while sitting next to her husband on her 55th birthday.
While Joe Biden wore a blue tie, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky did not. With most international leaders wearing all black, all three were accused of displaying ‘disrespect’.
Zelensky and Trump had their first in-person conversation since their disastrous White House altercation earlier this year, which had threatened to sabotage US-Ukrainian diplomatic ties, during the Pontiff’s funeral.
The result was labelled Pope Francis’ ‘last miracle’, since after their talks at the Vatican, the US President abruptly turned against tyrant Vladimir Putin.
As Trump’s rage over Russia’s most recent deadly missile strikes against Kyiv boiled over, the US president accused the Russian dictator of “stringing him along” over peace talks in Ukraine.
In a brief encounter in the Vatican prior to the late Pontiff’s funeral, the 78-year-old millionaire also gave Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky a hug, marking a startling improvement in their relationship.
“It was also moving to see what they are now calling ‘Pope Francis’s miracle’ with Trump and Zelensky meeting, there’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming,” Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News.
White House communications director Steven Cheung described the talks between the Ukrainian and American leaders as “very productive.” Zelensky later took to X to reiterate his expectations for “results” from the talks.
“Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” he wrote: “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
Later, in a vehement tirade against Putin, Trump charged that the Russian leader was attempting to thwart peace negotiations by repeatedly attacking Ukraine.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently,” the American leader raged in a post on Truth Social today.
Trump, who later returned to the United States with his wife Melania, stated that the United States needed to deal with the Kremlin “differently” through “secondary sanctions” and “banking.”
“Too many people are dying!!!” he wrote, referring to the Russian military strikes on Kyiv last week which left 12 dead, and several building destroyed.
A companion bill was approved by 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats in the Senate last week, raising the prospect of more sanctions against Russia.
Trump’s recommendation After welcoming US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, Putin stated that he did not want the war to end. According to reports, Witkoff was there to talk about a peace proposal for Ukraine mediated by the US.
After these discussions, though, a defiant Zelensky reaffirmed his stance on Crimea and denied that Ukraine would cede the area to the Kremlin.
Ukraine believed that the United States may coerce Ukraine into ceding the area to the Kremlin as part of a peace agreement after Russia illegally annexed it in 2014.
“The Ukrainian constitution states that all the temporarily occupied territories… belong to Ukraine,” Zelensky said, maintaining that the territory is still the property of the Ukrainian people.
Ahead to today’s election of a new pope, the cardinals of the Catholic Church met for the ninth time in an almost daily series at the Vatican.
The ‘general congregations’ are held behind closed doors, allowing them to talk about the difficulties facing the new pope before they are sealed into the Sistine Chapel for the vote on Wednesday.
The so-called ‘Princes of the Church’ gave little away as they made their way through throngs of pilgrims and reporters for the morning gathering, not even speculating on the duration of the conclave.
“We do not know, we just wait for the Lord to tell us,” said Cardinal William Seng Chye Goh, Archbishop of Singapore, seen as one of the more conservative prelates.
Following the death of Pope Francis, an Argentine reformer who led the Catholic Church for 12 years, on April 21, cardinals from all around the world were summoned to Rome.
133 of them will enter the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday and remain there until Francis’ successor has received a two-thirds majority following a series of secret ballots.
“We recognise his achievement but no pope is perfect, no one is able to do everything so we will find the best person to succeed St Peter,” Goh told reporters.
The archbishop of Algiers, Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, expressed his hope that the conclave will select a pope who would continue Francis’ progressive legacy.
“We must discover the one the Lord has already chosen,” he said.
“We could have had much more time praying together, but I am sure that at the right moment we will be ready and we will give the Church the pope that the Lord has wanted.”
