U.S. President Donald Trump has deleted a controversial post from his Truth Social account that featured an AI-generated image portraying him in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
The image showed Trump dressed in white, placing a glowing hand on a sick man lying in a hospital bed. The post quickly sparked widespread debate on social media, drawing strong criticism from people across the political spectrum, including devout Christians who described it as inappropriate.
One Christian commentator said the image crossed a line and called for it to be removed immediately, arguing that it disrespected religious values.
Speaking to journalists, Trump defended the image, saying he viewed it as simply depicting himself as a doctor helping to heal people. He later explained that he deleted the post after realizing that many people were misinterpreting it.
Notably, the image was posted less than an hour after Trump had shared a lengthy message criticizing Pope Leo XIV.
Trump described the Pope as “soft on wrongdoing” and weak on foreign policy following his criticism of military actions in Iran.
In response, Pope Leo XIV said he was not afraid of Trump’s leadership. He told journalists that while he did not seek confrontation, he would continue to speak out against war and military actions.
Trump has not issued an apology for either the image or his remarks about the Pope.