Donald Trump gave in to backlash from his Catholic supporters and deleted a post in which he likened himself to Jesus Christ.
After raging against Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, Trump, 79, shocked even his most loyal followers with an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ.
The image, posted to Truth Social late Sunday night, portrays Trump as Christ, laying his hand on a patient in a hospital bed, seemingly healing him.
He is surrounded by other figures, including a nurse, a soldier, and a praying woman. Also present in the image are the U.S. flag, several bald eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and the Lincoln Memorial.
The post was quietly deleted following an outpouring of anger on Monday morning from Catholics, the largest single religious denomination across the country. Hours later, Trump asserted during a press conference that, while he did share the image, he believed he was depicted as a Red Cross doctor, not Jesus.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the post’s removal.
“Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response?” right-wing influencer and White House ally Riley Gaines wrote on X about the photo.
“Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked,” Gaines added.
MAGA podcaster Michael Knowles wrote to his 1.4 million X followers: “I assume someone has already told him, but it behooves the President both spiritually and politically to delete the picture, no matter the intent.”
The post came after the president slammed the pontiff—who has previously voted in several Republican primaries—as a “weak” leader catering to the “Radical Left.”
“Leo should be thankful,” Trump raged, claiming that the Chicago-native “wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” he wrote.
He also lavished praise on Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, a vocal supporter of Trump, as the Daily Beast revealed in May.
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” Trump wrote. “He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”
The president then ridiculed the pope for, as he put it, “think[ing] it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” and thinking “it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela.” Leo, for his part, has not expressed any documented support for Iran’s nuclear weapons program. He has, however, called for justice and peace to prevail in both Iran and Venezuela.
Trump, who has a 37 percent approval rating, concluded his rant by calling upon Leo to “get his act together as Pope,” cautioning that it was “hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
On Monday morning, an unruffled Pope Leo responded to the president’s 334-word Truth Social screed by doubling down in his criticism of Trump and Israel’s war on Iran.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do,” the pontiff told reporters aboard the papal flight to Algiers—the start of an 11-day trip to four African countries.
When asked about Trump’s Truth Social website itself, the pope offered his own wry remark. “It’s ironic—the name of the site itself. Say no more,” he added.
The pope—who has repeatedly condemned the Trump administration’s hostile immigration crackdown and its support of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, in addition to the war in Iran—said the message of the Gospel was being “abused” by “some people,” in what appeared to be a reference to the president.
“I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems,” Pope Leo said. “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
While Trump has said he identifies as a nondenominational Christian, several members of his inner circle are devout Catholics, including Vice President JD Vance, who is releasing a memoir on his adult conversion to Catholicism. The memoir, however, has stirred mockery before it has even been published, after it was revealed to feature a Methodist church on its cover.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is also known for the shiny cross necklace she wears during daily press briefings and her morning prayer circles. She hasn’t commented on Trump’s bizzare post, but, notably, it was not reshared on the White House’s official social media accounts.
