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Trump ‘self-elects’ himself Pope: the narcissistic drift of power without limits

A few days before the Conclave begins, the American president shows himself on social media dressed as Pontiff. No comment, just the image of himself as an absolute symbol of power

A few days before the start of the Conclave, Donald Trump has published on the White House social channels and on Truth Social a portrait that leaves no room for innocent interpretations: he, in a white cassock, with mitre and gold cross, sitting in a hieratic pose, his index finger pointing towards the sky. No caption, no context. Just the image, solemn and caricatured at the same time.

A few days earlier, responding to a question about his ‘wishes’ for the next pope, he had joked: ‘I would love to be pope. It would be my first choice’. And the joke turned into an image. But the gesture is no laughing matter. It is yet another sign of a growing megalomania, which runs through the New York strongman’s second term in office in increasingly grotesque tones.

Trump is no longer just playing at being president. He plays at being the only possible figure. Power personified. The messiah, the ruler, the pontiff.

The publication of the image is more than a provocation: it is the visual representation of a narcissistic delirium that feeds on the languages of social media, digital shortcuts, illusions that become reality in the collective perception. And which find fertile ground in an age in which appearance counts more than substance, symbol more than content.

One wonders how it is possible that an entire people has twice chosen to entrust the leadership of the world’s leading power to such a blatantly self-referential figure. But the answer must be sought elsewhere: in a world that has lowered its defences, that has stopped filtering, that has confused populism with democracy and spectacle with leadership.

We live in an age where whoever shouts loudest takes the microphone. Where those who flaunt confidence, even in its most toxic form, are rewarded. Communicative barbarity is now the rule, fuelled by algorithms that reward excess and a society where content is measured in clicks and shares.

So Trump dressed as the Pope is not a satirical stunt, but the perfect image of a contemporary power that no longer has any limits or modesty. The virtual portrait of an increasingly grotesque reality. At every latitude. And no improvement at all is expected in the future.

TRUMAN SICILIANO

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