US President Donald Trump has attracted criticism after posting an image of himself as the Pope: “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr President, do not mock us,” the group wrote.

The photomontage (created with AI) of Donald Trump dressed as the Pope posted on the White House’s social media accounts will surely spark controversy.

The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents bishops in New York, took to X to criticise the picture.

“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis, and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn Conclave to elect a new successor of St Peter. Do not mock us,” the group wrote.

A photomontage with Donald Trump dressed as Pope was posted on the White House’s social media accounts a few days before the start of the Conclave, scheduled for May 7, that will designate the successor to Pope Francis, who died last April 21. The US president also shared the same image on his account on Truth. The photo shows Trump in a cassock, with a mitre and a crucifix around his neck, and in a blessing gesture. The American president has joked several times recently that being the next Pope himself “would be his first choice”.

It is not the first time, moreover, that the American president has joked about his image being linked to the papal throne: in recent days he joked about the fact that he could be the next Pope: “I would like to be Pope. It would be my first choice. I think I would be a great Pope. No one would do it better than me”, he said at the White House.

Trump will likely cause controversy with this AI-generated image after breaking with etiquette at Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday by wearing a navy blue suit instead of the traditional black. Trump has also said he would like New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, one of the American prelates at the Conclave, to become the next pontiff. The United States will have 10 cardinals represented at the Conclave, and Dolan was also present at the 2013 one, where Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope.

Although Trump did not directly share the name, he is known to be close to American Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, whose name was mentioned in his candidacy for the papacy. Burke said in 2016 that Trump would “defend Christian values ​​and fight abortion.” Trump and Cardinal Burke also share common views on issues such as opposition to abortion, immigration, traditional family structures, and LGBT rights.

In other times and with other presidents, such an image on the official White House accounts would have caused scandal and indignation. Today, with Trump, it appears almost normal and goes virtually unnoticed.