United States President Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself in papal regalia.
The image, posted on Truth Social, showed President Trump dressed in white wearing a papal hat, known as a mitre, with a large crucifix hanging around his neck 11 days after the death of Pope Francis.
The White House account also reposted the image on its official X (formerly Twitter) page.
Trump has said sarcastically that he would like to be the pontiff when asked who he would like to succeed Pope Francis.
“I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”
The US president went on to say that he did not have a preference but said there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”.
He noted that he had no preference for the papal role, adding, “I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.”
The conclave to select a new pontiff is now underway after the death of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 due to a stroke and heart failure.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Trump and his wife, Melania alongside other world leaders travelled to Rome for Francis’ funeral.