Donald Trump is not done with religious imagery. After coming under fire for posting an AI image depicting himself as a Jesus Christ-like figure, the US President has now spotlighted another AI-generated image of himself in the arms of the Son of God.
The photo was originally posted on X by a user, “Irish for Trump,” with the caption: “I was never a very religious man… but doesn’t it seem, with all these satanic, demonic, child-sacrificing monsters being exposed… that God might be playing his Trump card!”
The post by the pro-Trump account alluded to far-right conspiracy theories linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. However, there is no credible evidence of child sacrifice or satanic rituals in the millions of documents made public by the Trump administration under a law mandating the release of the Epstein files.
Trump, a one-time friend of Epstein’s who is also mentioned in the files, has portrayed himself as having done more for the late sex offender’s victims than anyone before him. He posted a screenshot of the post on Truth Social and wrote, “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice.”
The post came less than two days after he was forced to remove an image depicting himself as Jesus — a rare retreat for the brash leader. After deleting the post following fierce backlash from critics and supporters alike, he tried to explain it away.
“I thought it was me as a doctor,” Trump told reporters. “Only the fake news could come up with that.”
Asked why he took down the photo, he said, “Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want anybody to be confused. People were confused.”
Trump’s social media posts featuring religious imagery come amid a widening rift with Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church and a vocal critic of the US war in Iran. In recent days, the US president has lashed out at the American-born pontiff, calling him “terrible” and “weak” on crime and foreign policy.
Pope Leo has responded with grit and grace. Without naming any specific country or leader, he warned of the risk of democracies sliding into “majoritarian tyranny” and said he would continue to condemn the Iran war.
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