Shortly after criticizing Pope Leo XIV in a lengthy social media post Sunday, President Donald Trump shared an apparently artificial intelligence-generated image depicting him as a Jesus-like figure.

The image, which was posted on the president’s account on his social media platform, Truth Social, shows Trump dressed in white and red robes. In the illustration, the president’s hands emit shining lights, and his right hand is touching the forehead of a man lying on a bed, wearing a hospital gown. The image evokes religious art depicting Jesus healing the sick.

The illustration was posted without commentary, less than an hour after Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV in another post, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.” The pope, the first American-born pontiff to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, has spoken out against the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, condemning the “absurd and inhuman violence” unleashed by the fighting.

Pope Leo Says He Has ‘no Fear of Trump Administration’

Responding to Trump’s comments, the pope said Monday that he has “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.”

In the image posted Sunday, the man in the bed is surrounded by figures looking up at Trump, including a person in a medical uniform with a stethoscope around their neck, a praying woman and a man in a camouflage uniform. The background of the image includes the Statue of Liberty, a building resembling the Lincoln Memorial, fighter jets, eagles, fireworks and a billowing American flag.

Trump has posted a number of apparently AI-generated images of himself on social media over the last year, sometimes drawing significant backlash. In May 2025, after the death of Pope Francis, Trump posted an image of himself as pontiff, drawing criticism, including from Catholics.

In February 2025, Trump posted an image of himself wearing a crown on a magazine cover resembling Time, but called Trump, as he likened himself to a king.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Claire Moses

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