Catholic community reacts to Trump’s AI image of himself as the pope
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — An AI-generated image of President Donald Trump dressed as the pope is drawing criticism from some Catholics after it was posted on social media just days before the papal conclave to select the next pontiff begins in Rome.
The image, which was shared on Trump’s social media and the official White House account on Friday evening, shows an AI-generated image of the president wearing papal clothes and sitting on a throne.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was asked by reporters about the image after he had finished a service at a church in Rome on Sunday. In his response, Dolan used the Italian words, “brutta figura,” meaning the post was embarrassing.
“I hope he didn’t have anything to do with it,” Dolan said. “It wasn’t good. As Italians say, it was brutta figura.”
The New York State Catholic Conference also voiced outrage at the image, saying, “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 conference said on X on Saturday.
Trump said on Monday that it was a joke, and claimed no Catholics were offended.
“They can’t take a joke? You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media No, the Catholics loved it,” Trump said. “I had nothing to do with it. 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 have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, ‘Isn’t that nice?'”
He added, “Actually, I would not be able to be married, though. That would be a lot. … To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married, are they? Not that we know of.”
Father James Martin, a papal contributor for ABC, said on “This Week” Sunday, “People were surprised by it and thought it was incredibly poor taste, but over here in Rome more people are concerned about the next pope than the current president.”
Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, denied the post was offensive. When conservative commentator Bill Kristol wrote on X, “Hey, @JDVance, you fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father?” the vice president replied, “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.”
When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty,” according to The Associated Press.
The process to elect the next pope will begin on Wednesday, according to the Vatican.
ABC News’ Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Amid a tense legal battle over deportations, President Donald Trump is now arguing undocumented migrants should not be given a trial where they could challenge being removed from the country.
“We’re getting them out, and I hope we get cooperation from the courts because you know, we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can’t have a trial for all of these people,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“It wasn’t meant, the system wasn’t meant — and we don’t think there is anything that says — Look, we are getting some very bad people, killers, murderers, drug dealers, really bad people, the mentally ill, the mentally insane, they emptied out insane asylums into our country, we’re getting them out,” Trump continued. “And a judge can’t say, ‘No, you have to have a trial.'”
“No, we are going to have a very dangerous country if we are not allowed to do what we are entitled to do,” Trump added.
Trump made a similar argument in a post to his conservative social media platform, contending they can’t give everyone they want to deport a trial because it would “take, without exaggeration, 200 years.”
“Such a thing is not possible to do,” he wrote.
The comments came after the Supreme Court, in a brief order issued early Saturday morning, temporarily blocked the administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants alleged to be gang members under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
“The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court,” the justices said. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The Trump administration pushed back against the Supreme Court, calling its decision “unprecedented” and wrong. Solicitor General John Sauer said the justices should reverse course and let lower courts weigh in on the issue first.
The American Civil Liberties Union had appealed to the nation’s high court to stop the migrants being held in a Texas detention center from being removed, contending they were at risk of being deported “without notice or an opportunity to be heard” — a breach, they said, of the Supreme Court’s previous order that detainees are entitled to “reasonable time” to seek relief.
“These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison without ever having had a chance to go to court,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt in a statement after the Supreme Court’s order. “We are relieved that the Supreme Court has not permitted the administration to whisk them away the way others were just last month.”
Also front and center of Trump’s deportation effort is the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a migrant living in Maryland who was erroneously deported to El Salvador’s infamous CECOT mega-prison.
Trump administration border czar Tom Homan defended Abrego Garcia’s removal, telling ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl they “did the right thing” and “removed a public safety threat.” The administration’s alleged Abrego Garcia is member of the MS-13 gang, which his attorneys and family deny.
Democrats have criticized Trump’s actions in the case as violating due process rights. Sen. Chris Van Hollen was the first Democratic lawmaker to visit El Salvador, where he met with Garcia, last week. Several House Democrats were in El Salvador on Monday to advocate for his release.
“While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported,” said Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia. “That is why we’re here — to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America.”
president Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump are seen arriving at the Pope’s Funeral at the Vatican in Rome, Italy on 26 April, 2025. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(ROME) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met privately in Rome on Saturday before attending the funeral for Pope Francis.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the press pool traveling with Trump that the two men had a “very productive session.” More details about the meeting “will follow,” he said.
“Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one,” Zelenskyy posted on X after the meeting. “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
This was the first meeting between the two men since their contentious encounter in the White House Oval Office in late February.
Late Friday, following special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier in the day, Trump posted that it was “a good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine,” and he suggested it’s now time for the two sides to meet at “very high levels.”
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to “finish it off,” he wrote on his social media site.
“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!” Trump added in the post, but provided no additional information about the apparent progress.
Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, were seated about seven people away from Trump and the first lady Melania Trump, according to the press pool.
Former President Biden and former first lady Jill Biden were about four rows behind them.
(WASHNINGTON) — It’s been less than six months since the 2024 presidential election, but for some Democrats and Republicans, it’s not too early to plan for the race for the White House in 2028.
Three high-profile Democratic governors, one former Democratic Cabinet member and one Republican Cabinet member weighed in last week when questioned if they will run for president in 2028. Some did not rule out a run.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said on Thursday that he would consider running for president if he felt he was someone who could successfully unite the country.
“If you’d asked me a couple years ago if this is something I’d consider, I probably wouldn’t have. But I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. And so if I’m somebody that can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I’ll consider,” Beshear told local station WDRB on Thursday.
However, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, another Democrat who was considered a potential Harris running mate and who has received praise from some as a rising star within the party, said he’s “not running” for president when asked on ABC’s “The View” on Thursday.
“I am not running,” Moore said, adding that he is “really excited about the work that’s happening right now in the state of Maryland.”
Moore’s term as governor ends in 2026, and he could opt to run for a second term.
Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, had previously said he was not running, including in an interview with the Baltimore Sun in April. However, Moore’s statement comes as he makes more national media and event appearances. He is set to headline the South Carolina Democratic Party’s high-profile Blue Palmetto Dinner at the end of May.
Last week, former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who served under President Joe Biden, said she would consider running for president, responding with a direct “yes” when asked by political analyst David Axelrod at an event at the University of Chicago.
“The Democratic Party has a huge amount of work to do,” she said. “Introspection … where did we go wrong, what are our policies going to be, what is our platform going to be, what will our tactics be.”
Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, said she has served the country for 15 years and that if there is a “big way” for her to serve again, “including running, I’ll do it.” But she offered a caveat: “If I thought somebody else would be better or better able to win, I’d get behind that person in a minute. … For us to have a chance, it has to be just that right person at that right moment to make it happen.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, recently said he was not thinking about a 2028 presidential run, and reiterated that position – “I’m not” – at an event last Monday at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
Asked why, Walz did not offer any specifics about his own decision but pointed again to his ethos of the teamwork he thinks should be shown among Democrats. “I think we, collectively as a party, and those elected officials, should be running this campaign, kind of like the old school mountain climbing expeditions,” Walz said. “You never knew who was going to summit. It was whoever was ready at the last moment. And on summit day, if somebody was in the best shape, push them to the top, and the whole team gets credit.”
Walz, however, recently went on a national town hall tour — which has sparked speculation about his political future– and has spoken openly about reflections on his 2024 run.
On the Republican side, fewer names have been floated so far as 2028 presidential contenders. President Donald Trump has speculated about finding a way to run for a third term in office, which scholars say is barred by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. But in an interview with NBC News aired Sunday, he said he would be “a two-term president” and said he is not looking to run in 2028.
However, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who joined the Republican Party in 2024 after serving as a Democrat in Congress for several years, said in a podcast episode published Thursday that she would not rule out a future presidential bid.
Conservative journalist Megyn Kelly asked Gabbard if she has ruled out ever running again for president after her unsuccessful 2020 Democratic presidential bid, saying, “Could we potentially see a Tulsi 2028 try?”
“I will never rule out any opportunity to serve my country. … My decisions in my life have always been made around how can I best be of service to God, how can I best be of service to our country,” Gabbard said. “And that is what has led me here. I’m grateful for this opportunity, and I will continue to chase those opportunities where I can make the most positive impact and be of service.”
Her remarks echoed some previous statements she made when under consideration for a presidential ticket.
Gabbard, who is Samoan American, in 2020 became the first woman of color to win a delegate to the Democratic National Convention since Shirley Chisholm in 1972. Four years later, though, in 2024, Gabbard was under consideration to become Trump’s running mate.
The buzz around 2028 contenders continues as some other figures floated as potential 2028 presidential candidates, including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, ramp up their public appearances and remarks.
At the same time, some Democrats say the party’s focus, as it regroups after its losses in 2024, needs to be on the 2026 midterm elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate — not on 2028. The Republican Party currently has a trifecta with majorities in the House and the Senate and Trump in the White House.
“I mean, everybody is sort of out there trying to get the touch and the feel [of] like what is actually happening in the country and are the things that Trump is doing, which is now dropping his approval rating, really registering with people,” 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said at a book talk in New York City on Thursday.
But she added later, “I think that there is going to be a lot of testing of the waters, but we won’t know, really, who decides to run until probably after the midterms, which really underscores the most important message: We have to win the midterms.”
ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
