Trump Shares Photo Depicting Himself As Jesus Amid Pope Criticism

A photo depicting President Donald Trump as Jesus Christ was shared on his Truth Social account Sunday (April 12) night following his criticism of Pope Leo XIV.

The AI-generated image showed Trump as a Jesus-like character healing a sick man. The post was shared after Trump bashed Pope Leo over his criticism of the United States and Israel’s ongoing war in Iran in a lengthy rant in which he said he doesn’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,” while referencing the first American born pope in history.

“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump said. “He 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.”

“Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested,” he added, referencing a recent meeting between the Chicago-born pope and a former senior advisor former President Barack Obama.

Pope Leo responded to the personal attack by Trump during a flight to Algeria on the papal plane Monday (April 13).

“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, what the Church is here to do. We are not politicians. We don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker,” Pope Leo told journalists via OSV News Vatican editor Courtney Mares.

Leo condemned the war in Iran in his latest comments against all global wars, which had been addressed in both his Palm Sunday and Easter Mass services.

“Enough with the idolatry of self and money! Enough with the display of force! Enough with war! True strength is manifested in serving life,” Leo said on Saturday (April 11) via CBS News.

Leo also said it was “truly unacceptable” for Trump to have recently made his threat to destroy “an entire civilization” in Iran.