Trump on AI Image of Himself as Pope: Media ‘Can’t Take a Joke… Catholics Loved It’

President Donald Trump said that “Catholics loved” the AI image depicting him as the pope, which the official White House account posted on Saturday.

Trump, who has taken a number of pro-religious liberty actions since returning to office, shut down a reporter in the Oval Office on Monday when she said, “Some Catholics were not so happy about the image of you looking like the Pope.”

“Oh, I see you mean they can’t take a joke; you don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media… The Catholics loved it,” Trump said.

He added that he did not create the image or post it to the White House account.

“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,” he said. “I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening.”

He added that First Lady Melania Trump thought the image was “cute.”

“Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, ‘Isn’t that nice?’ Actually, I would not be able to be married, though, that would be a lot,” he said, causing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was on Trump’s right, to laugh. “To the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married, are they?”

When the reporter followed up to ask if the AI image diminished “the substance of the official White House account,” Trump responded, “Give me a break.”

“Somebody did it in fun, it’s fine. You have to have a little fun, don’t you?” he said.