Donald Trump Uploads Image of AI Similar to Jesus, Sparks Controversy

THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE – United States President Donald Trump uploaded an image created by artificial intelligence depicting himself as a figure of Jesus on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, April 12 2026. Reported by Reuters on Monday, April 13 2026, the image was then deleted on Monday and drew criticism from various groups, including a number of Trump’s own supporters from religious conservative groups.

In the image, Trump is depicted wearing a white robe with one hand holding a glowing ball and the other touching the forehead of a sick-looking man. In the background of the image you can see the Statue of Liberty, fireworks, fighter planes and an eagle. Reuters said the image was characterized by a bright light that in Christian religious artistic traditions is used to mark divine figures, and light also appeared to emanate from Trump’s hand.

Trump denied on Monday that the image was intended to depict him as a Jesus-like figure. Trump told reporters at the White House that the image was intended to portray himself as a doctor who heals people. But Brendan McMahon, a professor of art history at the University of Michigan, told Reuters that explanation was “highly suspect” because the image already includes another figure dressed in medical scrubs, and because its artistic style borrows from a long tradition of Christian imagery of Christ as healer.

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This post comes amid a heated feud between Trump and Pope Leo, the first leader of the Catholic Church born in the United States. Moments before posting the image, Trump posted a lengthy criticism of Pope Leo on Truth Social, calling Pope Leo “WEAK on crime and bad for foreign policy.” The feud between the two was sparked by Pope Leo’s attitude in criticizing the Iran war that started with the US-Israel attack as inhumane, and directly asked Trump to find a way out of the conflict.

Pope Leo responded to Trump’s attacks by stating he had no fear of the Trump administration and would continue to speak out. In a speech in Algiers on Monday, Pope Leo criticized world powers that he called “neocolonial” and violating international law, without specifically naming the US.

A number of Trump supporters from religious circles also criticized the post. Brilyn Hollyhand, former co-chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council, wrote in X that the post was blasphemy. Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who is known as a critic of transgender athletes and has appeared with Trump at campaign rallies, also said in X that he did not understand why Trump posted the image.

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Bishop Robert Barron, who sits on Trump’s religious freedom commission, said via X that Trump needed to apologize to Pope Leo for his remarks on social media which he called inappropriate. Trump rejected the request and said he had no reason to apologize to the pope.

At least eight members of Trump’s cabinet are Catholic, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Vance, in an interview with Fox News, said that Trump made the image as a joke, and suggested that the Vatican should focus more on moral matters.

David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, told Reuters that Trump’s clash with Pope Leo was more than just a disagreement but an act of disrespect, and saw it as a watershed moment that would test the loyalty of US Catholic voters to Trump.