On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Robert F. Prebust was chosen as Pope and acquired the name Pope Leo XIV.
Ai-generated photo of Trump dressed to the Pope in the White House
The White House posted an AI-generated image of President Donald Trump, who dressed the Pope in X, sparking both backlash and joy.
The White House X account shared a photo from Trump as Trump. On May 6, 2025, a few days after Trump’s photo appeared online, XPost received 106 million views. No, but the first lady Melania is.
Less than a week after President Donald Trump posted a photo of himself dressed up as a pope, it sparked debate over the timing – a new Pope has been chosen.
On Thursday, May 8, Pope Conclave, which began a day ago, won the Robert F. Prebust Cardinal of Chicago and the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first pope from America.
Many people are celebrating the “white smoke” from the Vatican – the end of the Pope Conclave and the international signal known as the new Pope’s pick – that wasn’t too long ago. Earlier this week, Donald Trump spoke to the image of “Pope Trump,” with First Lady Melania Trump joking, “I thought it was cute.”
This is what we know.
What happened to the photos of Pope Trump on the White House social media account?
Pope Francis passed away on Easter on Monday, April 21st, 2025. Donald and Melania Trump attended the funeral on April 26th.
Less than two weeks after Pope Francis passed away, at around 10:30pm on May 2, 2025, Donald Trump posted on the truth about social media platforms.
The AI image was shared by the official White House and Trump social media accounts and as of May 8, 2025, it had been word-of-mouth in just a few minutes with at least 109 million views.
The president says he “had nothing to do with it.”
On May 5, two weeks after Pope Francis passed away, Donald Trump spoke to the image of the virus that dressed the Pope to his image of the virus, laughing at it in questions of Catholic attacks in the image.
“I had nothing to do with it. Someone made a photo of me dressed like the Pope and they put it on the internet.
“They can’t joke,” Trump said of the media. “The Catholics loved it.”
Catholic leaders punished the president and blamed him for viral photos “Trump as Pope”
Despite a casual takeaway for Donald Trump’s photos, some Catholic Church leaders were not grateful for this image. Some people posted complaints on social media last week.
“There’s nothing clever or interesting about this image,” the Catholic bishop of New York wrote in X.
Pope Francis was critical of the Trump administration before he passed away. According to Reuters, immigration crackdowns were “disgrace.”
Trump said that his Catholic wife Melania loved I Pope’s photos. Donald Trump Jr. jokes about “white smoke” on Instagram
On May 5, while talking to reporters about the image, Donald Trump raised first lady Melania Trump and said, “In fact, my wife thought it was cute. She said, ‘Isn’t it that good?’ ”
“In fact, I wouldn’t be able to get married,” he said. “As far as I know, the Pope is not a big deal about getting married. What about them? It’s not something we know.”
Prior to Pope Leo’s appointment, Donald Trump Jr., the eldest of Donald Trump’s five children, shared an image of the virus of his father dressed the Pope, telling his Instagram followers, “White Smoke!!!” (That means he chooses Donald Trump as the Pope).
Are you Donald Trump Catholic? What kind of religion is Donald Trump?
Donald Trump is not a Catholic. He had identified him as a Presbyterian, but in 2020 he told Religious News Service he began to consider himself a non-denominational Christian.
However, Melania Trump made the news when he met Francis in 2017, revealing that she is Catholic when she asks the clergy to celebrate the Rosary Beads. Trump married in January 2005 at Bethesda By Sai Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida near his private club, Mar-a-Lago. For many years, the president and his wife have been involved in Easter services there.
Contributors: Francesca Chambers, USA Today, Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA Today Network. Contact her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and Tiktok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
