The North American president said the montage was to portray himself ‘healing people’
Shortly after criticizing Pope Leo XIV in a long post on social media on Sunday (12), President Donald Trump (USA) shared an image, apparently generated by artificial intelligence, which portrays him as a Jesus-like figure.
In a statement to the journalist, the American president said that it was not Jesus portrayed in the montage. “I posted it and I thought it was me as a doctor. It was about the Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker, which we support. It was supposed to be like a doctor, healing people,” Trump said. The post was deleted shortly after being shared.
The image, posted to 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 bright lights, and his right hand touches the forehead of a man lying in a bed, wearing a hospital gown.
The illustration was published without comment, less than an hour after Trump criticized the Pope Leo XIV in another publication, calling him “weak in the fight against crime” e “bad for foreign policy”.
In response to the comments, Leo XIV said he has “no fear of the Trump administration, nor of openly speaking the Gospel message, which is what I believe is my mission here.”
In the image released on Sunday, the man in bed is surrounded by figures looking at Trump, including a person in medical scrubs and a stethoscope around their neck, a woman in prayer and a man in camouflage uniform.
The background of the image includes the Statue of Liberty, a building similar to the Lincoln Memorial, fighter planes, eagles, fireworks and an American flag fluttering in the wind.
Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of Trump
The current pope, the first pontiff born in the United States to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, spoke out against the war between the US and Israel against Iran, condemning the “absurd and inhumane violence” unleashed by the fighting.
The pope’s statements come after a series of attacks by Trump on social media. The president stated that Leo XIV should “stop giving in to the radical left” and classified him as “weak in the fight against crime” and “terrible at foreign policy”.
He also criticized his stance on Iran, saying: “I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s acceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons.”
“If I weren’t in the White House, Leo XIV wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote, adding that the pope should “focus on being a great pope, not a politician.”
In later statements, the Republican reinforced his critical tone, stating: “I don’t think he’s doing a good job” and describing the leader of the Catholic Church as “very liberal”. (With international agencies).
Trump has already published other AI images
Over the past year, Trump has published several apparently artificial intelligence-generated images of himself on social media, which have sometimes generated a strong negative reaction. In May 2025, following the death of Pope Francis, Trump published an image of himself as pontiff, drawing criticism, including from Catholics.
In February 2025, Trump published an image of himself wearing a crown on the cover of a magazine similar to Time but titled Trump, comparing himself to a king.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
