Donald Trump has sparked fresh debate online after posting another image to social media showing him being consoled by Jesus Christ, just days after he faced criticism for sharing an AI-generated picture that appeared to cast him as the Christian figure.
“The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!! President DJT,” he wrote alongside the new post. The image shows Jesus with an arm around the president’s shoulders as Trump appears downcast.
The latest upload follows a separate image shared on Sunday that some detractors labelled ‘blasphemous’. That earlier picture showed Trump in a robe seemingly performing a ‘healing’, posted shortly after he had delivered a pointed public attack on Pope Leo XIV.
In the controversial AI scene, Trump is positioned beside a man lying in what looks like a hospital bed, with nurses and soldiers nearby. Some online critics also claimed the figure in the bed resembles Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender.
The background also appears to portray heaven above and behind Trump, alongside well-known US landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial.
An oversized American flag, warplanes, and eagles are depicted in the sky near the heavenly imagery.
“Trump is now posting AI images of himself as Jesus Christ healing, what appears to be, a young Jeffrey Epstein,” Democratic commentator Harry Sisson wrote on X while sharing a screenshot of the Truth Social post. Another person replied beneath it: “That is some blasphemous bulls***.”
After the image drew significant backlash — including from some supporters — Trump deleted it from Truth Social. However, his explanation for the post prompted further scrutiny.
Asked by journalists about the picture, Trump confirmed he had shared it, saying he viewed it as ‘me as a doctor’.
Speaking hours after it was taken down on Monday, he said he believed the image showed him as a doctor standing next to a Red Cross worker.
“It’s supposed to be as a doctor making people better,” he said. “And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”
He later told CBS News that he removed the post because he ‘didn’t want to have anybody be confused. People were confused.’
The AI image appeared online less than an hour after Trump criticised the pontiff, describing him as ‘weak on crime’ and ‘terrible for foreign policy’.
Pope Leo — the first American Pope — has repeatedly spoken out against the war in Iran, saying it has resulted in ‘absurd and inhuman violence’.
On Monday, the pope said 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.’