- Trump’s message depicts him in a white robe, his hand on a man’s head.
- Some supporters criticized the image, which was later deleted.
- Pope Leo says he has no fear of the Trump administration.
US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself looking like Jesus on Sunday, drawing widespread criticism even from some religious conservatives who generally support him, before deleting the post on Monday.
The post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, which Trump later said was intended to portray him as a doctor, came amid his growing feud with Pope Leo, who has criticized the war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as inhumane. Shortly before posting the image, the president issued a lengthy speech against Pope Leo, calling him “WEAK on crime and terrible on foreign policy.”
Leo, the first American-born pope, said in response to Trump’s attacks that he had “no fear” of the Trump administration and would continue to speak out. In a forceful speech delivered Monday in Algiers, he denounced “neocolonial” world powers that violate international law, without specifically referring to the United States.
Sunday’s post, depicting Trump in a white robe with an apparently healing hand on the head of a reclining man, could drive a wedge between Trump and the religious right, whose support was key to his victory in the 2024 election.
In this painting-like image, Trump holds a glowing orb in one hand and uses his other hand to touch the forehead of an apparently ill man. The Statue of Liberty, fireworks, a fighter jet and eagles were visible in the background.
Trump denied Monday that the image was intended to show him as a Jesus-like figure.
“As a doctor, I’m supposed to make people better, and I make people better,” he told reporters at the White House, shortly after his post was deleted.
Brendan McMahon, a professor of art history at the University of Michigan, found this explanation “highly suspect” given that the image depicts another figure in attire, and because Trump is depicted bathed in a bright light used to signify the divine in countless works of religious art across different centuries. Light also emanates from Trump’s hands in the image.
“It borrows from this long tradition of Christian imagery with Christ as the healer,” McMahon said. “In terms of style, it seems to nod to the social realism of the interwar United States, like the WPA murals, images about the emancipation of working-class Americans.”
Brilyn Hollyhand, who served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council, offered a harsher criticism, writing of X: “This is gross blasphemy. Faith is not an accessory. You don’t need to present yourself as a savior when your track record should speak for itself. »
Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer and outspoken critic of transgender athletes in women’s sports who has appeared alongside Trump at rallies, wrote on X that she didn’t understand why Trump posted the image.
“Does he really think that?” she wrote. “Be that as it may, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God will not be mocked.”
Christian voters, including Catholics, make up a vital part of Trump’s political base. Trump, who does not regularly attend church, won a large majority of Christian voters in the 2024 election, including Catholics, who were previously closer to a split.
After Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July 2024, some evangelical supporters said it was proof he had been blessed by God.
Trump feud could test Catholic voters’ loyalties
David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, a Catholic school, said it was difficult to understand why Trump attacked Leo and posted the image, but it was also difficult to say whether American Catholics would turn against him.
“Will this move cross a red line for them? Will they finally punish Trump and the Republican Party at the ballot box?” he said. “This is a defining moment: Will America’s Catholics choose the pope or the president?”
Bishop Robert Barron, who serves on a commission on religious freedom created by Trump, said on X that the president owes Leo an apology for his “inappropriate” statements on social media. But he also praised Trump in the same message for his commitment to Catholics.
Trump told reporters Monday that he had “nothing to apologize for” to the pope.
In recent weeks, Leo has become one of the most prominent critics of the Iran war, even making an unusual direct appeal to Trump and urging him to find a “way out.”
Tensions between Trump and the Vatican increase over Iran
Leo also said that Jesus cannot be used to justify war and that God rejects the prayers of those who start conflicts.
The remarks were widely seen as a rebuke of Trump officials, such as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who cited Scripture to justify the use of “overwhelming violence” against his enemies and compared the rescue of a U.S. airman in Iran to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Trump also sometimes feuded with Leo’s predecessor, Francis, who publicly opposed Trump’s deportation campaign as unchristian. Last year, after Francis’ death, Trump posted an image showing him as pope, sparking outrage among many Catholics.
But Trump’s attacks on Leo went far beyond his jabs at Francis.
“American presidents and American Catholics have been at odds with popes in the past,” Gibson said. “But it’s a lack of respect. Disrespect is very different from disagreement, and that’s the danger for Trump.”
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 “Special Report with Bret Baier,” downplayed the Jesus image, saying Trump made it as a joke. Vance added that sometimes it was best for the “Vatican to stick to questions of morality.”
