Trump posts AI-generated photo of himself in papal attire; Evokes backlash, praise on social media
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has posted a seemingly AI generated photo of himself in papal attire on his social media sparking a duelling backlash and praise, Newsweek said on Saturday.
The image, which was also posted from the White House's social media handle, prompted many social media users to call it “cosplaying as the next Pope” comes days after Trump had jokingly said last week that he would be his own “number one choice” for the next pope.
In the Vatican, cardinals are set to begin on May 7 the process to choose a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21. The US president was among the world leaders who attended his funeral at St Peter's Square on April 26.
The president posted the picture without a caption or comment. “The post immediately garnered positive and negative reaction online,” Newsweek said adding, it reached out to the Vatican via email soon after.
Earlier on April 29, Trump told a television reporter: “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice.”
When asked who should replace Francis, Trump said, “I have no preference,” but added: “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.”
Meanwhile, Trump's image went viral on social media with scores of users coming up with jokes, memes and criticism of the president.
Reacting to the image posted on the White House's X account, Lepus (@LepusNox) was quick to point out how it was neither funny nor respectful. “As President of the United States, posting a picture of himself as Pope a few days after the Pope's death is neither funny, nor does it present statesmanship and respectful behaviour. Rather, it shows the boundless arrogance and childish behaviour of a man who believes he is above everything, can get away with anything and is the head of everyone.”
The newsportal quoted comedian Terrance K Williams's post on X, which said: “Pope Trump... Lol our President just posted this. He's trolling because he knows the media is going to flip out. Love it Actually I love the sound of King Trump, the first of his name.”
Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health and former Democratic congressional candidate, also took to X saying, “The guy who broke all 10 commandments is posting pictures of himself cosplaying as the next Pope.”
An X user, Average Aussie Egyptologist (Therese Clarke) (@AUSegyptology) called it “truly disgraceful” and an insult to the late Pope Francis.
“I can take lots of jokes about religion, but this is truly disgraceful - an insult to the late Pope Francis. It is on Donald Trump's approved Instagram account. The man couldn't even follow the protocols advised by the Holy See, fell asleep during the funeral mass and now does this,” she said.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
