'Quite nice': Trump shares new AI image with Jesus after deleting controversial 'healer' post

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump posted a new AI-generated image depicting Jesus Christ and himself, even as criticism against his now-deleted post continues to grow. The image, shared on Trump's Truth Social account, shows the President being embraced by Jesus with the American flag in the background. In his caption, Trump said that although the "Radical Left Lunatics" might object, he thought the image was "quite nice." The image was first created and posted by a social media account called "Irish for Trump," with the text: "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." 

Trump's new post came less than two days after the White House deleted a previous AI-generated image amid massive criticism. The earlier image showed Trump in robes, appearing to heal a bedridden man, and received strong criticism from both political and religious groups. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that he advised the President that the "healer" image was being misunderstood. Johnson said Trump agreed and removed the post. "He agreed, and he pulled it down. That was the right thing to do. I don't think he thought it was sacrilegious at all," Johnson added. Defending the post at a press briefing on Monday, Trump said that the image was meant to portray him as a doctor. "I thought it was me as a doctor," Trump told reporters. "It had to do with the Red Cross... It's supposed to be me as a doctor." 

The controversy has widened the public divide between the White House and the Vatican. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has recently criticized the administration’s military strategy in the Middle East, which began with Operation Epic Fury on February 28. After the Pope warned against a "delusion of omnipotence," Trump responded on Truth Social by calling the pontiff "WEAK on Crime", and claimed the Church chose an American pope to better "deal with" his presidency.

Critics have called the President's comments a serious break from diplomatic norms, with several faith leaders speaking up for the American-born Pope. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, told TIME that Trump's comments conveyed "a grave misunderstanding of the Holy Father's ministry." Tobin asserted that Pope Leo "serves a higher authority" and "will continue to speak clearly against war and other offenses against human dignity."