President Donald Trump said Monday that people offended by an image recently shared on social media portraying him as the pope "can't take a joke."
During a press conference at the White House to unveil plans for bringing the 2027 NFL Draft to Washington, Trump responded to a reporter who insisted that "Some Catholics were not so happy about the image of you looking like the pope" that circulated on social media in recent days.
Trump replied, "You mean they can't take a joke?"
"You don't mean the Catholics; you mean the fake news media," he added. "The Catholics loved it."
Trump clarified that he had "nothing to do with it."
"Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope, and they put it out on the internet. That's not me that did it. I have no idea who it came from. Maybe it was [Artificial Intelligence]," he added.
"I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, 'Isn't it that nice?'"
Trump acknowledged that he could not become pope because he "would not be able to be married" if he took the job. While Trump is not a Catholic, first lady Melania Trump was raised Catholic.
The reporter expressed concern that the image was "put out on the White House account even though it was AI generated" and amounted to nothing more than a "joke" and a "meme." She asked, "Does it at all diminish the substance of the official White House account to have it go out on that particular account?"
"Somebody did it in fun," he responded. "You have to have a little fun, don't you?"
The image in question was shared on the White House's X account Friday after the president posted it on Truth Social that day. It depicts Trump wearing papal vestments and sitting on the papal throne with his finger in the air.
The image of Trump dressed up as the pope and the backlash to it come as the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church remains vacant following the April 21 death of Pope Francis at the age of 88.
A conclave is slated to begin Wednesday, where members of the College of Cardinals will start working to elect the next pope. Voting may take several ballots and last several days, as a person needs to secure the support of two-thirds of the cardinals to become pope.
While several members of the College of Cardinals are seen as likely to emerge from the conclave as the new successor of St. Peter and bishop of Rome, which candidate ends up victorious may remain unknown for quite some time as the conclave does not permit members of the media to watch the cardinals engage in their deliberation. The cardinals vote via secret ballot and continue to vote until one candidate reaches the threshold of two-thirds support.
