President Donald Trump has a habit of using AI-generated content to spice up his social media. But his latest post—a picture that appeared to depict him as Jesus, bathed in ethereal light and laying hands on a sick man—drew such an outcry that Trump took it down.
It’s not the first time Trump has courted controversy with AI imagery. In the past, Trump posted an AI-generated picture of himself dressed as the Pope, a video where the Obamas are depicted as apes, and a clip where he wore a crown apparently mocking “No Kings” protests against his rule.
The latest image offended even some of Trump’s traditional support base—which includes evangelical Christians and conservatives—although he tried to explain it away when questioned by reporters: he said he thought the picture depicted him not as one of Christianity’s revered leaders, but as a physician.
“I thought it was me as a doctor,” Trump told reporters Monday, suggesting that the photo had references to the humanitarian organization Red Cross. Jesus? “Only the fake news could come up with that one,” Trump added.
The backlash from religious commentators and Christian supporters over the image comes as Trump has been feuding with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war. In the now-deleted image, the sky is a pastiche of patriotic images: the U.S. flag, soldiers, and eagles. As for Trump, his hands are glowing, and one is placed on a bedridden man’s forehead. Around him, several people—including a nurse, a soldier, and a woman with her hands folded together in prayer—watch him in awe.
The image has been shared before, albeit slightly altered, by recently-appointed Special Presidential Envoy for American Tourism, Exceptionalism, and Values, Nick Adams. In his since-removed X post, Adams said, “America has been sick for a long time. President Trump is healing this nation.”
Riley Gaines, a Trump ally who has largely supported the President pushing out transgender women from sports, questioned the motive behind Trump’s latest post. “Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?”
“Either way, two things are true,” Gaines added. “1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”
“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” conservative Christian writer and commentator Megan Basham posted on X. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”
“This is gross blasphemy,” wrote political activist Brilyn Hollyhand. “Faith is not a prop. You don’t need to portray yourself as a savior when your record should speak for itself.”
Conservative political commentator Cam Higby posted on X that while he spends “8 hours a day” defending Trump, he “will not defend blasphemy.”
Christian militant organization Knights Templar International demanded that the U.S. President remove the image immediately: “We are deeply offended by this and have no other choice but to condemn it wholeheartedly and ask for a public apology to the Christian brethren who have been deeply upset by this depiction.” The group later called Trump’s decision to delete the image the “right move.”
An apology has yet to come, but Trump rarely apologizes for his missteps. Speaking to CBS News on Monday, Trump doubled down that the image showed him as a “doctor in fixing—you had the Red Cross right there.” Asked why he took down the image, Trump denied that it was in response to the backlash, saying: “Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to have anybody be confused. People were confused.”
Trump also told CBS News that he believes he has “done more for the Catholic Church than any President in the last hundred years.”
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