TRUMP & TIARAS: Mockery, Messaging, or Something Else?
The AI-generated image of Trump as the Pope has sparked diverse reactions—some laughing, some recoiling, and many just confused—triggering broader discussions about satire, artificial intelligence, and perhaps most of all, timing and respect.
If you’ve followed my work, you know I offer a relatively nuanced view of Trump—spotlighting monumental advances while warning against both political idolatry and a return to (or continuation of) the slumbering state that has kept us all enslaved in the system in the first place.
You also know that I am a Catholic, a traditional one who attempts to live by the design and spirit of the ancient Latin rite.
So I don’t come at this article lightly.
All night I wrestled with whether I should write anything on it at all.
But I knew this day would come. And I believe this is only the start—for many at least. Others already understand that this photo, like so many of his “nutty” posts, is not just trolling—it’s a narrative deployment.
Narrative deployment for whom?
For us.
We have to do the work–especially if this photo indicates something eternally wicked about Trump.
This could very well represent a whole new season of awakening for Americans–who have no idea exactly what forces are against us.
As just one of dozens or hundreds of examples of facts even most Catholics don’t know, consider that the papal tiara, or triregnum, has not been worn since 1963. Paul VI made the decision to stop using it, marking a drastic shift in papal tradition. The tiara had long been a symbol of the papacy’s authority, but in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on modernizing the Church, Paul VI chose to forgo the tiara during his coronation and afterward. Since then, the tiara has remained largely symbolic, with no pope using it in public appearances or ceremonies.
Modernizing the Church is in direct opposition to countless encyclicals written by previous popes, including Pius V, Pius IV, Leo XIII, and Pius X, just to name a few.
All of this also relates to Fatima, the famed three secrets, and John XXIII’s decision to disobey and not reveal the third secret to the public.
That–all of that– is a whole set of stories involving lies, deception, manipulation, and infiltration that is too far afield for this article–but I say it only to make a point: Older encyclicals, tiaras, ecumenical councils, and Fatima, among the hundreds of other things we don’t know about, are crucial to our thought process.
Truth be told, I don’t have a firm opinion on the Trump pic—not in a starkly positive or negative sense anyway. What I do know is that this picture, while it may seem like one of Trump’s classic trolls, goes beyond that. This one is serious. This one gets to the heart of the matter, and one that should make anyone who doesn’t like Trump not just disgusted, but wholly frightened of his power.
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But I know all of this too–
Had I not followed Trump and his art of narrative warfare all these years…
Had I not known that his wife Melania is reportedly a repentant sinner and devout Catholic (even if she’s said at least one thing not at all Catholic)…
Had I not heard reports that she arranged an exorcism of the White House after the Obamas left…
Had I not seen his very Catholic post on September 8 celebrating the Blessed Virgin’s birth…
Had I not seen his post on September 29 quoting the St Michael prayer, or his Holy Week White House release full of unmistakably Catholic references…
Had I not known about his 2017 tour that brought him to the Vatican—apparently to deliver some very bad news to Francis…
Had I not seen the strange timing of his April 20 post about “he who owns the gold makes the rules,” directly aligned with JD Vance’s visit to the Vatican and Francis’s subsequent death…
And had I not seen the exact same patterns play out inside the Catholic Church that I’ve watched unfold inside the political realm…
…I’d probably have the same gut reaction many of my friends are having–
Disgust.
But I do know all of that. And once you know things you can’t unknow them.
If my sources are correct, that 2017 Vatican stop involved a gigantic gold transfer. One so massive, I doubt you’d believe me if I wrote the details here.
Even I can’t wrap my head around it. I find myself paralyzed by cognitive dissonance, even while staring at evidence on the screen.
I share in people’s hesitation with some of this. I do.
But it is also why I include the two links toward the bottom here–not to mention all the other links littered throughout as invaluable context–as an invitation for all of us to engage with the story as it unfolds.
Think–even if you have to go through the process of missing the mark on some things.
The bigger picture is worth it.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a “conspiracy theorist,” it’s that you don’t have to show off every bit of research you’ve done to make your point. The purpose is to inspire people to seek the truth for themselves, especially since I myself know probably only a fraction of a percent of what really lies beneath.
But I know enough to challenge us.
So today, I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind. The fact of the matter–and this is going to sound arrogant but I say it without ego–is that if we only track the occasional headline that makes him look good or bad, we’ll miss the larger picture. We’re not going to be able to consider all the other possibilities on the table, possibilities created by things like I listed above.
Things that contradict the “Trump is mocking Catholicism” bit.
That photo is a lightning rod. I could make a completely coherent argument that it proves Trump’s wickedness—and underscores our desperate need to turn back to Christ. Sure I could.
But I could also argue the opposite: that it will open a door to something so unsettlingly good, so wholly opposed to the ancient powers, that it rattles us for entirely different reasons. So good, in fact, that this whole saga goes beyond MAGA, beyond politics, and we are damn lucky to have him.
While I generally avoid absolutes in these matters, I do believe it’s one of those two extremes with Trump.
Which adds to the drama. Which adds to the fright.
But which also adds to the hope that we are all being given a chance, one way or another, to truly make God our Lord–and not just in name only.
That 2017 Vatican stop—part of what’s been called the “capitulation tour”—is something I’ve discussed often in my work on Trump and Saudi Arabia’s apparent role in dismantling the deep state.
If you don’t know about that tour and that trip to the Vatican, you’re missing a vital piece of the cognitive puzzle.
All of that said, again, I don’t know.
But I do know that this picture—while it may seem like another Trumpian troll—goes beyond satire.
And if you already don’t like Trump, this shouldn’t just disgust you. It should frighten you.
Or—it may mean you’re dead wrong about him.
And so what do I offer today, besides a hesitant and God-fearing reflection?
An invitation.
An invitation to remember all the work I’ve been putting out concerning Archbishop Vigano and Francis for years now.
An invitation to recall what I’ve written about how popes once spoke—and how they were pressured by the same secular powers that are assaulting us today.
An invitation to consider how differently popes have written and spoken in recent times.
A trust that you, the reader, can weigh that contrast—especially when it comes to one of the most pressing moral issues of our time.
An invitation to recognize the same politics Christ allowed into his Church while still alive—in Judas. The same failures he allowed in, through the scattering of his closest friends—are the same kinds of forces that have attacked the Church from within for centuries–and which may have broken through decisively in the 20th century.
An invitation to consider that nothing is what it seems.
An invitation simply to go deeper.
Here’s another step. Connect the dots of my ‘plausible deniability’ article, the threads I’ve left hanging today, and the following:
There’s more. So much more.
But I’ll stop here.
Pray for discernment—especially if I’m wrong, even in ways I don’t yet realize.
—
May everyone named directly or referenced indirectly ask forgiveness and do penance for their sins against America and God. I fight this information war in the spirit of justice and love for the innocent, but I have been reminded of the need for mercy and prayers for our enemies. I am a sinner in need of redemption as well after all, for my sins are many. In the words of Jesus Christ himself, Lord forgive us all, for we know not what we do.
