"And so it is what is, I guess, but it's very unfortunate," said Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob. "It's a very serious time."

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the backlash against an AI-generated image of him as the pope posted by the White House on social media, saying it was a harmless joke, but communications experts said they did not see the funny side.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself as pope on Truth Social. Rating: True (About this rating?) In May 2025, as Catholics around the world mourned the death of Pope Francis and days before the conclave to elect a new pope was set to begin,