Melania thought I looked cute as the Pope, says Trump

[highplainsdem]

Source: The Times

-snip-

Trump posted the image on his Truth Social account on Friday, less than a week after Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome, drawing criticism from some Catholics. The White House’s social media accounts also reposted it.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump said that he had only become aware of the picture on Sunday evening and denied any involvement in creating it.

When a reporter suggested that some Catholics were offended, Trump interrupted: “Oh, they can’t take a joke,” going on to criticise the “fake news media”.

“I had nothing to do with it,” he said. “That’s not me that did it.” He added that the first lady “thought it was cute”.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.thetimes.com/article/45ec0c00-d6ca-489b-a9f2-f4fc2be6be7e

---

So it was posted to his Truth Social account Friday, reposted by WH social media accounts, but he didn't find out about it till Sunday evening? Right...

EDITING to add more of what Trump said, from Politico:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/05/trump-pope-ai-image-catholics-00329231

When asked about negative Catholic reaction over the image at a Monday press conference at the White House, Trump replied: “You don’t mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media ... the Catholics loved it.”

-snip-

“I have no idea where it came from,” he said. “Maybe it was AI. But I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening. Actually my wife thought it was cute. She said, isn’t that nice?”

Trump on Monday also joked that the Papacy likely isn’t in his future even though last week he joked he would be his own top choice for the post.

“Actually I would not be able to be married though,” he said. “That would be a lot. I’d have to — to the best of my knowledge, popes aren’t big on getting married, are they? Not that we know of, no.”