US President Donald Trump recently posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed as the Pope on social media. The post comes following his remarks implying he might consider the papacy following the death of Pope Francis, sparking a mix of amusement and backlash across the internet.

While some social media users found the AI-generated image of Trump in papal attire amusing, others condemned it as insensitive, accusing him of mocking the death of Pope Francis.

"In no realm is this trolling or funny… if you are Catholic, it’s offensive. If you are anyone else, it’s just plain stupid and should legitimately make you roll your eyes. The US Presidency used to mean something, but Trump just turned it into Head Troll," one X user said.

“Words cannot describe how disrespectful, pathetic, and stupid this is,” another user wrote.

Another wrote, “I’m ok with it”.

Pope Francis passed away on April 21 at the age of 88 due to a stroke and heart failure, according to a death certificate released last week by Vatican physician Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, as reported by Reuters.

The US president was among the world leaders who attended Pope Francis' funeral at the St Peter's Square in the Vatican on April 26.

Trump has said jokingly he would be his own “number one choice” for the next pope, Politico reported on April 30.

Trump's remarks come when cardinals are set to begin on May 7 the process to choose a successor to Pope Francis.

“I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” Trump told a television reporter on Tuesday.

When asked who should replace Francis, Trump had 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.” Politico said the cardinal of New York, Timothy Dolan, “is not believed to be among the frontrunners to succeed Francis.” There has never been a pope from the US.