Former President Donald Trump recently made headlines for his lighthearted comments about the papacy during a press interaction outside the White House. When asked what he thought about the Pope, Trump shot back with a one liner. As he remarked, he would “love to be pope” and indeed made it his “number one choice.” This quip follows on the heels of his staff posting AI-generated images of him dressed in papal garb all over social media platforms.
In addition to his whimsical aspirations, Trump referred to himself as “the king” in a Truth Social post, stating, “Manhattan and all of New York, is saved. Long live the king.” This self-styled moniker comes at an ironic time as he tries to reshape this narrative to regain his relevance on the national political stage.
In fact, Trump was in Rome last week to attend Pope Francis’s funeral. There, he enjoyed a very high profile first meeting with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The late Pontiff passed away following a stroke that resulted in acute irreversible heart failure. His death was an unprecedented moment as world leaders converged to honor him.
In the midst of trying to sound tough on these illicit political aspirations, Trump bravely threatened to strip tax-exempt status from Harvard University. This huge jobs report would usually suggest the need for more monetary restraint, but instead, Trump urged the Federal Reserve to ease up on interest rates. The then-controversial nominee plans to nominate national security advisor Mike Waltz as the UN ambassador. This action is the clearest expression yet of his desire to shape the foreign policy debate.
This past week, the AI-generated imagery posted by the White House has raised eyebrows and eyebrows of both interest and scorn. Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich tweeted a fanciful/moronic depiction of Trump as a monarch. Post-Vanderbilt, this audacious step generated a quadruple amount of discussion about his branding and public image. Such an illustration of Trump dressed like a pope, which spread like wildfire on Trump’s Truth Social.
Trump’s connection to Catholicism also surfaced when discussing Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 and met with Pope Francis just one day before the pope’s passing. These connections may indicate a broader effort by Trump to align himself with religious sentiments in American politics.
Leave a Reply