Trump's AI image of himself as Jesus-like figure follows feud with Pope Leo

WASINGTON: US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure on Sunday, drawing widespread criticism even from some religious conservatives who typically support him, before deleting the post on Monday.

The post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, which Trump later said was meant to portray him as a doctor, came amid his escalating feud with Pope Leo, who has criticised the war that started with US-Israeli strikes on Iran as inhumane. Shortly before publishing the image, the president posted a lengthy screed against Pope Leo, calling him "WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy."

Christian voters, including Catholics, have formed a critical part of Trump's political base. Trump, who does not attend church regularly, won large majorities of Christian voters in the 2024 election, including Catholics, who had previously been closer to a split.

After Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July 2024, some evangelical supporters said it was evidence he had been blessed by God.

Trump feud could test Catholic voter loyalty

David Gibson, the director of the Centre on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, a Catholic school, said it was difficult to understand Trump's motive in attacking Leo and for posting the image, but that it was also hard to say whether American Catholics would turn against him.

"Will this move cross a red line for them? Will they finally punish Trump and the GOP at the ballot box?" he said. "This is a watershed moment - will Catholics in America choose the pope or the president?”

Bishop Robert Barron, who serves on a Trump-created religious liberty commission, said on X that the president owed Leo an apology for his "inappropriate" statements on social media. But he also praised Trump in the same post for his outreach to Catholics.

Trump told reporters on Monday he had "nothing to apologise for" to the pope.

In recent weeks, Leo has become one of the most prominent critics of the war in Iran, even making an unusual direct appeal to Trump and urging him to find an “off-ramp.”

Trump-Vatican tensions deepen over Iran

Leo has also said that Jesus cannot be used to justify war and that God rejects the prayers of those who start conflicts. 

Those remarks were widely seen as a rebuke to Trump officials like US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who has cited scripture to justify the use of "overwhelming violence" against enemies and likened the rescue of a US airman inside Iran to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Trump also feuded at times with Leo’s predecessor, Francis, who publicly opposed Trump’s deportation campaign as un-Christian. Last year, after Francis' death, Trump posted an image showing himself as pope, prompting outrage from many Catholics.

But Trump's attacks on Leo have gone well beyond his swipes at Francis.

"American presidents and American Catholics have disagreed with popes in the past," Gibson said. "But this is disrespect. Disrespect is way different than disagreement, and that’s the danger for Trump here."

At least eight members of Trump's cabinet are Catholic, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Vance, speaking to Fox News Channel's "Special Report with Bret Baier," played down the Jesus-like image, saying Trump made it jokingly. Vance added it was sometimes better for the "Vatican to stick to matters of morality."