Trump's AI-Generated Christ-like Image Sparks Backlash, Deletes Post

US President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself as a robed, Christ-like figure healing a bedridden man, flanked by eagles, fighter jets, and US service members, with the Statue of Liberty and the US flag in the background. The post triggered backlash, with some users suggesting the figure being healed resembled the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The image was posted on Truth Social on Sunday after Trump’s broadside at Pope Francis, calling the Chicago-born pontiff “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

In the picture, Trump – while lacking a halo – is seen wearing red and white drapes, colors symbolizing bloodshed and Christ’s sacrifice for humanity, as well as his absolute purity.

Trump deleted the post on Monday after it sparked widespread public backlash. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, the president admitted he personally posted the image on his feed, but blamed its divine interpretation on the “fake news” media.

“I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And it had to do with the Red Cross, and a Red Cross worker there, which we support. Only the fake news could come up with that one,” Trump claimed.

The Pope previously criticized the US-Israeli attack against Iran and described Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian civilization as “truly unacceptable,” saying it amounts to “a threat against the entire people.”

The US president – who has described himself as a nondenominational Christian – also noted that “we don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon,” adding that he is “not a fan of Pope Francis.”

Democratic Senator Mark Kelly was quick to condemn the remarks. “As a Catholic, I find it abhorrent that the President of the United States would publicly attack the Successor of St. Peter”, Kelly wrote on X. “Donald Trump is flailing. His war in Iran has led to the death and injury of American servicemembers and the death of Iranian children.”

The public backlash to Christ-like imagery proved to be even sharper. Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Trump ally said the president’s post was “more than blasphemy,” calling it “an Antichrist spirit.”

While some users scrambled to defend Trump, insisting his post did not offend any Christian worshippers, others wondered whether the bedridden figure was Jeffrey Epstein, echoing allegations from Trump’s critics that he had launched the Iran war partly to distract the public from the release of millions of Epstein-linked documents.

Some of the commenters went even further, sharing a parody AI-image of Trump resurrecting Epstein against the backdrop of the praying figure of his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a giant Israeli flag.