US President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal robes on his Truth Social platform this week, days before the Vatican is set to begin the process of electing a new pope.

The image, in full colour, shows the president clad in traditional papal attire — white robes, a gold crucifix pendant, and the ceremonial mitre hat — with his right index finger pointing skyward. The picture appears to have been generated with artificial intelligence and was posted shortly after Mr Trump made a characteristically provocative remark about his aspirations for the papacy.

“I’d like to be pope, that would be my number one choice,” he told reporters in an informal exchange earlier this week. The statement came ahead of the May 7 conclave in which Catholic cardinals will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a successor to Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21.

Although Mr Trump admitted he had no firm preference for the next pontiff, he mentioned a cardinal in New York who was “very good”, widely believed to be Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a conservative voice in the US church known for his opposition to abortion.

The president also attended Pope Francis’s funeral last week — his first foreign visit since returning to office.

The post and comments have drawn a mixed reaction, with some supporters embracing the satire while critics questioned the appropriateness of joking about the papacy, particularly at a sensitive time for the Catholic Church.

Approximately 20 per cent of Americans identify as Catholic, and according to exit polls from last November’s election, around 60 per cent of them voted in favour of Mr Trump.

The late Pope Francis had often taken a moral stance in opposition to several of Mr Trump’s key policies. During the 2016 campaign, the pope condemned the then-candidate’s pledge to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, remarking that “anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian.”

The conclave set to begin on May 7 will mark a significant moment for the Catholic Church as it seeks a leader to navigate growing global challenges and internal divisions.