Trump deletes post seemingly depicting him as Jesus after backlash

By Laura Nahmias

 

US President Donald Trump deleted a social media post that seemingly depicted him as a Jesus Christ-like figure, after the image incited criticism, including from the president’s supporters.  

The post, which depicted Trump in robes touching a sick patient in front of an American flag, was published Sunday after the president criticised Pope Leo XIV for his condemnations of the US-Israeli war on Iran. 

JUST IN: ???????? President Trump posts image portraying himself as Jesus Christ. pic.twitter.com/utqhVoLgQ8

— Remarks (@remarks) April 13, 2026

Trump called the US-born pope “WEAK on crime,” after the pope spoke out against the conflict. 

 

 

Speaking to reporters while receiving a McDonald’s delivery at the Oval Office Monday, Trump said that he posted the image because he thought it showed him as a doctor but didn’t explain his decision to delete it.

 

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross,” Trump said. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better.”

 

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, defended Trump in a Fox News interview later Monday, saying “the president was posting a joke” and took it down “because he recognised that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humour.”