After facing heavy criticism, US President Donald Trump has deleted a post from his social media account Truth Social that showed him as Jesus, the BBC reports.
The image, created by artificial intelligence, showed Trump healing a sick person in a hospital bed. The image drew sharp criticism from both sides of the US political spectrum, including even staunch Trump supporters. The image was posted just hours after the US president posted a lengthy post criticizing Pope Leo XIV, who has spoken out against the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
Trump admitted that he had posted the image but had thought it depicted him as a doctor. The now-deleted image shows Trump in a white robe, holding a glowing hand over the forehead of a sick man, and critics have said the image resembles paintings of Jesus healing the terminally ill. The background of the image includes the Statue of Liberty, a large, waving American flag, as well as a nurse, a woman praying and a soldier in uniform. Speaking to reporters hours after the post was deleted, Trump claimed that he had intended the image to show him as a doctor next to a Red Cross worker. “It’s supposed to be as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better,” the president said.
New media post from Donald J. Trump
(TS: 12 Apr 21:49 ET) pic.twitter.com/uWUoEG1bSQ
— Commentary: Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) April 13, 2026
Trump later told CBS News that he deleted the post because he didn’t want people to be confused.
Criticism of the image began to emerge immediately after it was posted, including from people considered close to Trump and his administration. Christian activist Sean Feucht, who is working to organize several religiously-oriented events in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, said
the image should be removed immediately and that there is no context in which it would be acceptable.
Prominent conservative activist Ryley Gaines wrote that God should not be mocked. David Brody, a journalist for the Christian Broadcasting Network, said the image crossed a line.
The situation is further complicated by Trump’s criticism of the Catholic pope. Speaking to reporters, Trump did not apologize for his harsh remarks about Leo XIV, and said the pope was saying things that were not correct: “He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result.”
This is hardly the first time Trump has faced criticism for his Truth Social posts. In February, he posted a racist video depicting former US President Barack Obama and his wife as monkeys, which was also later deleted. The White House initially defended the video as an “internet meme video” and called on critics to stop the unnecessary fuss. However, after harsh criticism, including from some Republican senators, the post was deleted and the White House indicated that a staffer had mistakenly created the video.
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