You’ve probably seen it by now. It’s hard to miss. A photo of Donald Trump draped in ornate, white and gold papal robes, sitting with a stern expression, and holding up a single finger as if mid-sermon. It looks high-definition. It looks real. And for a second, it makes you do a double-take because, well, the world is a weird place.
But let’s get the obvious part out of the way: Donald Trump did not actually dress like the Pope. The image that basically broke the internet in early May 2025 was a product of generative artificial intelligence. Specifically, it was an AI-generated deepfake that the President himself (or his social media team) decided to share on Truth Social and later the official White House X account. It wasn't just a random meme; it became a full-blown international incident involving the Vatican, the New York State Catholic Conference, and a very confused public.
The Origins of the Trump Pope Image
So, why did this even happen?
It started around May 2, 2025. This was a heavy time for the Catholic Church. Pope Francis had passed away just 11 days prior on April 21, and the world was watching as the College of Cardinals prepared for a conclave to elect a successor.
Trump had actually attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City on April 26. Shortly after, during a lighthearted moment on the White House lawn, a reporter asked him who he thought should be the next Pope. Trump, being Trump, smirked and said he’d be his own "number one choice."
“I’d like to be Pope,” he told reporters. He later clarified he had no real preference, but the seed was planted. A few days later, the AI-generated image of Trump dress like the pope appeared on his feed.
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The image itself is fascinating from a technical standpoint. It features a high level of detail in the fabric of the cassock and the structure of the miter (the bishop's hat). It tapped into the same "hyper-realistic" aesthetic that made the 2023 "Balenciaga Pope" photo of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket go viral. However, unlike the puffer jacket photo, which most people saw as a harmless gag, this one landed in the middle of a very solemn religious period.
Why Everyone Was Yelling About It
The timing was... questionable.
The New York State Catholic Conference didn't find it funny. They released a pretty scathing statement saying, "There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis."
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has historically been on decent terms with Trump, called the post "embarrassing" and "in poor taste." Over in Italy, the reaction was even harsher. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called it "shameful" and accused the American leader of "clowning around" while the global economy was facing serious headwinds.
When reporters finally cornered Trump in the Oval Office on May 5, 2025, to ask about the backlash, he pulled a classic move: he distanced himself while also doubling down.
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"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... Maybe it was AI. But I know nothing about it."
Then, in the same breath, he claimed that "the Catholics loved it" and said Melania thought it was "cute."
Spotting the Fake: How AI Gave Itself Away
Even as AI gets scarier-good, there are almost always "tells" if you look close enough. In the 2026 landscape of deepfakes, we've had to become digital detectives. If you zoom into that specific Trump dress like the pope photo, you start to see where the math fails the reality.
- The Jewelry Paradox: Look at the large cross necklace. In many versions of this AI render, the chain doesn't actually connect behind the neck properly, or it seems to melt into the fabric of the robes.
- Skin Texture: AI loves a "glamour shot" filter. Trump’s skin in the image looks unnaturally smooth—almost like plastic—lacking the pores and fine lines you’d see in a high-res Getty image.
- The Hands: While AI has mostly figured out how to count to five, the way the fingers grip the arm of the chair in that photo is slightly "mushy." The lighting on the fingernails doesn't match the overhead light source.
[Image showing a comparison of real skin texture vs. AI-generated skin texture]
The "Trolling as Policy" Strategy
This wasn't an isolated incident. By early 2026, it's become clear that the Trump administration uses AI-generated content as a core communication tool. We've seen AI videos of Obama being "arrested" and weirdly idyllic renders of a "Trump Gaza" resort.
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The goal isn't necessarily to trick people into thinking he actually joined the priesthood. It’s about attention.
Joshua Tucker, a co-director at NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics, points out that this is basically "campaigning through trolling." It keeps the President at the center of the news cycle, forces his critics to react to something absurd, and delights his base who see it as a "tongue-in-cheek" middle finger to traditional decorum.
What You Should Do Next
Living in a world where you can't trust your eyes is exhausting. But you don't have to be a victim of the "post-truth" era. Here is how you can handle these viral moments:
- Check the Source: If an image looks "too perfect" or bizarrely cinematic, see if it originated from a social media account known for memes or AI art.
- Use Reverse Image Search: Tools like Google Lens or TinEye can quickly show you if an image has been flagged as "synthetic" by fact-checking sites like Snopes or the Associated Press.
- Look for the "AI Signature": Many platforms are starting to embed invisible watermarks (C2PA standards). Look for "AI-generated" labels that are often automatically applied by X or Meta.
- Wait for the Video: It is still much harder to fake a high-quality, long-form video of a person moving and talking than it is to fake a still photo. If there's no footage of the event, it probably didn't happen.
Honestly, the Trump dress like the pope saga is just the tip of the iceberg for what's coming in the 2026 midterm elections. Stay skeptical, zoom in on the hands, and maybe don't believe everything you see on Truth Social at 2:00 AM.