President Donald Trump responded to questions Monday about the artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope. President Trump: "The Catholics loved it. I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the Pope and put it out on the Internet. That's not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI."
The image, shared Friday night on Trump's Truth Social site and later reposted by the White House on its official X account, raised eyebrows on social media and at the Vatican, which was still in the period of nine days of official mourning following Pope Francis' death on April 21.\
Catholic cardinals have been celebrating daily Masses in memory Pope Francis and are due to open the conclave to elect his successor on Wednesday.
The image featuring Trump in a white cassock and pointed miter, or bishop’s hat, was the topic of several questions during the Vatican’s daily conclave briefing Saturday. Italian and Spanish news reports lamented its poor taste and said it was offensive, given that the period of official mourning was still underway.