‘Saw it last evening’: Donald Trump denies knowledge of AI image of him as Pope

US President Donald Trump on Monday denied any knowledge about the AI image of him as the Pope, saying that he had nothing to do with the production of the image.

Trump, however, said the photo was done in jest. The remarks come as the White House faced criticism from Catholics in and outside the US for the image.

"I just saw it last evening," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The Republican leader added that his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, thought it was cute.

Notably, the image was shared from Trump's account on his social media platform, Truth Social, and also shared on X by the White House. The administration faced criticism from Europe, especially Spain and Italy, and also from groups in the United States, as it came less than two weeks after Pope Francis's death. The Pontiff passed away on April 21 in the Vatican.

AI image of Donald Trump as the Pope

On May 2, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal attire days after jokingly saying he would ‘like to be Pope’. While some social media users found the post humorous, others criticized it as insensitive, accusing Trump of mocking Pope Francis’ death.

A reporter had recently asked Trump whom he would like to see succeed Pope Francis. The 78-year-old immediately quipped: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”

“I have no preference. I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens,” he further added.

The Papal Conclave has been convened on May 7, where top Cardinals will deliberate on who would succeed Pope Francis as the next head of the Catholic church. There is no timeline for when the name will be announced.