Just days before the papal conclave is set to take place, the official White House account on X posted the AI-generated image of Donald Trump in papal attire. View on euronews

That would be my number one choice,” he said at the time. The image shows Trump dressed in a white garment wearing a pope’s hat and a necklace with a cross hanging around his neck. He is sitting in a chair with his index finger pointed upwards.

The president has joked about being the next pontiff, but the image, which appeared to be A.I.-generated, took things a step further and drew some pushback.

The cardinals of the Catholic Church held their ninth in a series of near-daily meetings at the Vatican on Saturday ahead of the election of a new pope.

A cardinal predicted that the selection process for the successor to Pope Francis, who died April 21 at the age of 88, “will be very short.” As cardinals prepare to kick off the conclave week, Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez of El Salvador told ABC News on Friday that the Vatican is looking for “Francis 2.