Did Trump post a photo of himself as Jesus? Yes, and he slammed the pope
Kinsey Crowley- President Donald Trump shared an image on Truth Social depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure healing a sick person, but it has been deleted.
- The post followed a public disagreement between Trump and Pope Leo XIV over the war in Iran.
- Trump criticized the Pope on social media, calling him "WEAK on Crime" and taking credit for his election.
President Donald Trump posted an illustration of himself apparently as Jesus Christ on April 12.
The image posted on Truth Social shows Trump in a white tunic and a red shawl with a shining light in his left hand. Trump is blessing a man in a hospital bed with his right hand on the man's forehead in the image. Upturned faces look at Trump, including one woman with her hands in prayer, positioning Trump as god-like. It evokes imagery of Jesus healing the sick.
The post comes as Trump and Pope Leo XIV are publicly at odds over the war in Iran. Pope Leo has directly criticized Trump's harsh language, like last week's threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight." Trump, just before posting the apparent-AI picture of himself as Jesus, called Pope Leo "WEAK on Crime," and took credit for Leo's selection to the papacy.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the picture. By midday April 13, the post appears to have been deleted. Links to it lead to a "not found" message, and it is no longer appearing on Trump's Truth Social profile.
Here is what to know:
What did Trump say about the Pope?
Trump took to Truth Social to criticize Pope Leo in a lengthy post on April 12. Pope Leo, the first American Pope, has been outspoken about some of the Trump administration's policies since being elected to replace the late Pope Francis in May 2025.
“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” Pope Leo said while addressing journalists outside his residence on April 7 in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, after Trump's threats against Iran included the "whole civilization."
Leo praised the ceasefire Trump announced later that week, but over the weekend, as peace negotiations failed in Pakistan, Pope Leo said in a prayer service, "Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life."
Pope Leo also reportedly met with Democratic strategist David Axelrod, which Trump mentioned in his post.
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump's Truth Social post stated. "I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do ... If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican."
The Pope responded while answering questions from reporters, calling Trump's platform name itself "ironic."
"I have no fear with neither the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel," he said. "I do not look at my role as being political, or politician. I don’t want to get into a debate with him. I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing. And I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace."
Read Trump's full post about the pope here:
See AI-picture of Trump as Jesus
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Antonio Fins, Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY Network
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her onX (Twitter),Threads,Bluesky andTikTok.