AI image of Trump as pope 'mocking' Catholic Church

Donald Trump has been described as "a clown" after posting an image of himself as the pope on social media.

- ANDREA SHALAL

The AI-generated picture caused anger ahead of this week's gathering of cardinals to choose a new leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church. It comes just days after the US president joked that he would “like to be pope".

Mr 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 aged 88 last month. The White House then reposted it on its official X (Twitter) account.

The image shows an unsmiling Mr Trump seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with right forefinger raised.