Trump deletes image of himself as Jesus Christ amid backlash as clash with Pope escalates
The image came in the midst of an unprecedented confrontation between the president and Pope Leo XIV over the war in Iran
US President Donald Trump on Monday deleted from his Truth Social account an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ healing a sick person. The post, which remained visible for more than 12 hours, drew sharp criticism from Catholic organizations, conservative figures and members of his own party, who called it blasphemous.
Trump sought to downplay the controversy when speaking to reporters near the Oval Office. I thought it was me posing as a doctor. It had to do with the Red Cross, he said. It’s supposed to be me, as a doctor, healing people, and I do in fact heal people.
The image came in the midst of an unprecedented confrontation between the president and Pope Leo XIV over the war in Iran. Hours before posting it, Trump had launched a lengthy broadside against the pontiff on social media. Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy, he wrote. I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.
Leo XIV, who on Monday began an 11-day tour of Africa, responded aboard the papal plane en route to Algiers. I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, he told AP. We are not politicians. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective, he added. Too many innocent people have been killed, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way.
The clash had been building since Leo XIV — born in Chicago and holding both US and Peruvian citizenship — began criticizing the war against Iran launched by the United States and Israel on February 28. Last week, the pontiff called Trump’s threat to destroy an entire civilization as truly unacceptable. On Saturday, at a vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, he warned against a delusion of omnipotence fueling conflicts, according to CNN.
Trump also attacked the Pope over his criticism of the US military operation in Venezuela and claimed Leo XIV was elected pontiff solely because of his nationality: If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.
The president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, rejected Trump’s remarks: I am deeply hurt that the president chose to write such denigratory words about the Holy Father. Pope Leo XIV is not a rival or a politician. He is the vicar of Christ.
The deletion of the image came under pressure from Trump’s own conservative base. Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X: This is beyond blasphemy. This is an antichrist spirit. Republican Representative Don Bacon called it vulgar and childish, CBS reported. Isabel Brown, host of a conservative Catholic podcast, called it frankly disgusting and unacceptable, according to EFE.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a Trump ally, sent a message of support for the Pope’s peace mission. Vatican official Father Antonio Spadaro said Trump was targeting a moral voice because he cannot contain it.
