In early May, as Roman Catholic cardinals convened for their conclave, US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as the pope. Shortly afterwards, he declared that he would like to become a pontiff. Reactions from around the globe were swift, though not everyone was shocked. After all, this was American crassness at its finest – a spectacle the world has grown accustomed to. Trump is neither the first nor the only US figure to inure the world to such behaviour; there is a...