President Donald Trump remarked that Catholics “loved” the AI-generated image of him as the pope.
During an interaction with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump, who has emphasized religious freedom since returning to office, suggested that “Catholics aren’t too pleased with how you look like the Pope.”
“Well, you know, they can’t take a joke. You mean Catholics, and the fake news media… Catholics loved it,” Trump stated.
He clarified that he did not create the images or post them on his White House account.
“I had nothing to do with it. Someone made a picture of me in pope-like attire and shared it online. It wasn’t me,” he explained. “I have no idea where it originated. Maybe it was AI, but I’m not sure. I saw it last night.”
He mentioned that first lady Melania Trump found the image “cute.”
“Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She asked, ‘Isn’t that nice?’ Well, maybe it’s a lot, I can’t get married for real,” he quipped. “As far as I know, the Pope doesn’t really marry, right?”
When pressed about whether the AI-generated image had impacted “official White House account contents,” Trump responded, “Give me a break.”
“Someone had some fun with it, and that’s fine. You need a little fun sometimes, right?” he added.
