President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photo showing himself as the pope ahead of this week's gathering of cardinals to choose a new leader of the 1.4-billion-strong Catholic Church, and just days after he joked he would "like to be pope".

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, late on Friday, May 2, to share an image of himself in the traditional papal clothing. The official White House social media account later reposted the image on X. The image garnered a mixed response, with one critic saying it was " rather offensive for Catholics."

Just hours after Vatican workers installed the chimney onto the roof of the Sistine Chapel in preparation for the Papal Conclave, which will begin on May 7 to select a new pope, the White House shared an AI-generated image of President Donald Trump in papal regalia on X,