Donald Trump flaunted a fawning letter from a top evangelical preacher after a bruising week with Christian critics.
Trump, 79, appeared eager to show off his Christian credentials, posting a letter from his favorite evangelical preacher, Franklin Graham, on Sunday.
“I am praying for you today—for God to guide and direct your decisions. I know that millions of people, not only in our country, but all around the world are praying as well," the letter reads.
“Thank you for your strong leadership,” it ends.
Signed by Graham, the son of preacher Billy Graham, the letter is dated April 7, meaning that it was sent before his latest religious gaffes.
In one of several religious missteps, Trump posted a bizarre AI-generated image of himself as Jesus earlier this month—drawing backlash even from MAGA loyalists before it was taken down. He later insisted he thought it showed him as a doctor.
Graham backed him up—posting on X that he did “not believe President Trump would knowingly depict himself as Jesus Christ—that would certainly be inappropriate."
In a lengthy post, Graham also said he hoped the president and Pope Leo XIV could meet so the pope could thank Trump “for his efforts to protect religious liberty for Catholics and people of all faiths.”
But Trump has spent recent weeks fanning tensions with the pope—unleashing late-night rants and inventing claims about his stance on Iran.
“I’m not fighting with him. The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I’d say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, falsely, on Thursday.
The pope has since tried to cool the feud, saying his comments about “tyrants” were not aimed at the president.
Trump also posted another AI-generated image to his social media last week of himself next to Jesus—this time the two men were in a close embrace.
“The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!!” Trump wrote of the new imagery.
Amid a swirl of outrage over his recent religious stunts, Trump has shown little concern—going so far as to record an Old Testament reading for a marathon Bible event in Washington.
Trump’s history with religion has long been fraught—from hawking $60 bibles on the campaign trail to declaring it his favorite book while struggling to cite a single passage.
