President Donald Trump has denied involvement in the creation of a supposedly manipulated image of him dressed in papal garments, following growing backlash from Catholic leaders and social media users.
The image, which appeared on Trump’s social media accounts and shared by the White House late Friday, showed the United States president wearing ornate papal robes and seated on a golden throne just days before commencement of the papal conclave in Rome to elect a successor to the late Pope Francis.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Monday.
“Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. That’s not me that did it. I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute,” Trump said.
While Trump downplayed the incident as a joke, some Catholic leaders have not taken it lightly.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, speaking to reporters in Rome, called the post a “brutta figura”, an Italian phrase for an embarrassing misstep.
“I hope he didn’t have anything to do with it. It wasn’t good,” Dolan added
The New York State Catholic Conference also condemned the image, in a post on X, stating that “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.”
However, the U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a practicing Catholic, downplayed the situation on social media about whether the image was disrespectful.
“As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen.”
Father James Martin, an adviser to the Vatican and papal commentator, told ABC’s This Week that while the image was “in poor taste,” much of Rome remains focused on the upcoming papal election.
Trump, who attended Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican City on April 26, further joked about it.
“To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married,” he joked, referencing his own marital status.
“That would be a lot,” he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s record with Catholics, noting his attendance at the funeral and his stance on religious liberty.
The Vatican will on May 7, 2025, begin the conclave to select the next pope.
