New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Sunday said the now-viral AI image of President Trump as pope was god-awful.
Trump and the White House shared the image on their online accounts Friday — just after the 78-year-old president joked that the Vatican should contemplate making him the Holy Father when asked by reporters who he’d like to see succeed Francis.
“I hope [Trump] didn’t have anything to do with that,” Dolan said of the AI image, speaking after a Mass in Rome, where the cardinal is preparing for this week’s start of the conclave of cardinals, who will select the next pontiff.
“Well, you know, it wasn’t good,” Dolan said of the computer-generated image.
Pope Francis died last month, the day after Easter Sunday, at age 88.
Last week, when asked by reporters about Francis’ potential successor, Trump quipped, “I’d like to be pope. That would be my No. 1 choice” — before clarifying that he doesn’t actually have a top choice.
But the 47th president seemingly implied that he would like to see Dolan become pope.
“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,” Trump said.
Trump considers himself a non-denominational Christian, while first lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance are Catholics. The president attended Francis’s funeral last month despite some of his public clashes with the pope.
Dolan and Trump have been friendly for some time. The president attended the famous Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Catholic charity dinner last year, which former Vice President Kamala Harris skipped.
Harris sent a video instead of attending in person, in a break from presidential campaign tradition.
Dolan is also a member of the president’s Religious Liberty Commission and has observed that Trump “takes his Christian faith seriously.”
Other prominent Catholics have ripped into Trump for sharing the AI-powered image of him as the pope.
“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,” the New York State Catholic Conference said in a statement.
“Do not mock us.”
Vance, who met with Francis hours before his death, has defended Trump, saying, “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.”
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. https://t.co/2WQPsofVIH
— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 3, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who attended Catholic school growing up, also defended Trump over sharing the image, describing him as a “champion for Catholics.
“President 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,” Leavitt said when asked about the backlash, according to CNN.
The White House did not respond to a Post request for comment.
The Vatican conclave, or the meeting of the cardinals to select the next pope, is set to begin Wednesday.
