Donald Trump denies posting AI image of himself as pope

Donald Trump has denied posting an AI image of himself as pope – and said Catholics who were offended “can’t take a joke”.

A picture of the president wearing white and gold robes in the style of a pontiff was posted to his account on Truth Social and caused outcry among some Christians.

“I had nothing to do with it, somebody made a picture of me dressed like the Pope and they put it out on the internet,” he said on Monday.

“That’s not me that did it, I’ve got no idea where it came from, maybe it was AI.”

When it was pointed out to him that some Catholics were offended by the image, he replied: “Oh, they can’t take a joke.”

“The Catholics loved it,” he also claimed.

President Trump insisted that he first saw the image – which was posted on Friday night on his Truth Social account and later promoted by the White House on its official X account – on Sunday evening.

He also noted that first lady Melania Trump “thought it was cute”.

President Trump was not baptised as a Catholic and therefore is ineligible to be pope, neither is he allowed to participate in the conclave.

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Some 133 cardinal electors – those under the age of 80 – will take part in the conclave and begin voting for the new pontiff on Wednesday after the death of Pope Francis last month.

The rituals of the event, held in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, are elaborate and date back centuries.