Donald Trump continues to stir controversy with religious-themed images. Following criticism for sharing an artificial intelligence (AI) depiction of himself resembling Jesus Christ, the US President has now highlighted another AI-generated image showing him cradled by the Son of God.
The picture was initially shared on X by a user named “Irish for Trump,” who captioned it: “I was never a very religious man… but doesn’t it seem, with all these satanic, demonic, child-sacrificing monsters being exposed… that God might be playing his Trump card!”
The post from the pro-Trump account referenced far-right conspiracy theories surrounding the crimes of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Nevertheless, no credible evidence of child sacrifices or satanic rituals has been found in the millions of documents released by the Trump administration under the Epstein files disclosure law.
Trump, who was associated with Epstein in the past and is mentioned in the files, has positioned himself as a champion for Epstein’s victims. He shared a screenshot of the post on Truth Social, stating, “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice.”
Less than two days later, Trump removed an image of himself depicted as Jesus following a strong backlash from critics and supporters. He later claimed, “I thought it was me as a doctor. Only the fake news could come up with that.”
Regarding the removal, Trump remarked, “Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want anybody to be confused. People were confused.”
Trump’s recent use of religious imagery in social media posts coincides with escalating tensions with Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church and a vocal opponent of the US’s actions in Iran. Trump has openly criticized the American-born pontiff, labeling him “terrible” and “weak” on crime and foreign policy.
In response, Pope Leo has expressed steadfastness and cautioned against democratic systems veering towards “majoritarian tyranny” without explicitly mentioning any specific nation or leader. He reaffirmed his stance against the Iran war and vowed to continue speaking out on the matter.