U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure on Sunday, drawing widespread criticism even from some religious conservatives who typically support him, before deleting the post on Monday.
The post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, which Trump later said was meant to portray him as a doctor, came amid his escalating feud with Pope Leo, who has criticized the war that started with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as inhumane.
Shortly before publishing the image, the president posted a lengthy screed against Pope Leo, calling him “WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, responded by saying “no fear” of the Trump administration and would continue to speak out. In a forceful speech on Monday in Algiers, he denounced “neocolonial” world powers who are violating international law, without specifically referring to the United States.
Sunday’s post, depicting Trump in a white robe with an apparently healing hand on a supine man’s head, could create a rift between Trump and the religious right, whose support was critical to his victory in the 2024 election.
Christian voters, including Catholics, have formed a critical part of Trump’s political base. Trump, who does not attend church regularly, won large majorities of Christian voters in the 2024 election, including Catholics, who had previously been closer to a split.
After Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July 2024, some evangelical supporters said it was evidence he had been blessed by God.
Trump-Vatican Tensions Deepen Over Iran
Leo has also said that Jesus cannot be used to justify war and that God rejects the prayers of those who start conflicts. Those remarks were widely seen as a rebuke to Trump officials like U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has cited scripture to justify the use of “overwhelming violence” against enemies and likened the rescue of a U.S. airman inside Iran to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Trump also feuded at times with Leo’s predecessor, Francis, who publicly opposed Trump’s deportation campaign as un-Christian. Last year, after Francis’ death, Trump posted an image showing himself as pope, prompting outrage from many Catholics.
But Trump’s attacks on Leo have gone well beyond his swipes at Francis.
At least eight members of Trump’s cabinet are Catholic, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Vance, speaking to Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” played down the Jesus-like image, saying Trump made it jokingly. Vance added it was sometimes better for the “Vatican to stick to matters of morality.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
