Donald Trump was condemned today for having 'now crossed the line' after posting an AI image of himself as a Christ-like figure while hitting out at the Pope.
The President branded Pope Leo XIV 'weak on crime' and 'terrible for foreign policy' after he spoke out against the Iran war - then offended Christians around the world by posting an image of himself as Jesus on his social media platform Truth Social.
The AI-generated image showed Mr Trump as a robed Christ, curing an ill man while surrounded by adoring figures including a nurse and a soldier. Fallen US servicemen could also be seen ascending to heaven in the style of a Renaissance painting.
Christian figures on both sides of the Atlantic were left incensed - including Massimo Faggioli, a theologian and expert on the papacy based at the Loyola Institute at Trinity College Dublin, who said: 'There is no ambiguity about the situation now.'
Mr Faggioli compared the comments to efforts by the leaders of Germany and Italy during the Second World War to draw the late Pope Pius XII to support their causes, adding: 'Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the pope so directly and publicly.'
UK Catholic commentator Austen Ivereigh said Mr Trump's 'remarkable' move could mean 'the end' for his presidency, adding: 'He's now crossed the line. This is a deeply unpopular war, but I think what he's doing now is tipping into a level of messianism and narcissism, which I think everybody is now recognising as deeply troubling.
He also told Premier Christian News: 'The job of the Pope is, in a sense, to defend the integrity of the Gospel against those who would choose to instrumentalise it'.
The Most Reverend Richard Moth, the new Archbishop of Westminster, also backed the Pope, saying: 'We pray for Pope Leo XIV as he starts his Apostolic Journey in Africa. We continue to support his unstinting calls for peace and reconciliation.'
Donald Trump speaks with reporters outside the Oval Office at the White House yesterday
A post on Mr Trump's Truth Social account depicts an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus
American pastor Mark Burns, Mr Trump's former spiritual adviser, revealed on Times Radio that he told the President to delete the image because it was a 'step too far' and 'so clearly it offends millions of Christians and Catholics all over the world'.
British Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, who was in the papal conclave that elected Leo XIV, told BBC Newsnight that he thought the post was 'just quite frankly bizarre'.
He added: 'People have often said that they think that it's blasphemous. I think that implies an attack on Christianity, which President Trump I don't think intended, but it does show a complete misunderstanding of what Christianity is about.'
Asked about Mr Trump's explanation that the image was 'supposed to be me as a doctor making people better', Cardinal Radcliffe added: 'I find it very strange. I've met many doctors in my life and none of them have glowed quite like that.'
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the BBC: 'I thought it was a preposterous picture. It should have been, at best, a funny joke that somebody else had done. It was very bizarre seeing the president tweet it himself. I'm not surprised that it's been deleted.'
Father Gary Donegan, a prominent Catholic priest based in Belfast, told the Irish Times that the post was 'verging on blasphemy' as the 'wannabe King mocks Christ', as he insisted anyone in the US 'that represents Jesus should call him out over this'.
He added: 'I've had the privilege of being in the last 35 years at the bedside of 100s of sick and dying including seven literally dying in my arms. It is the most privileged of moments. As I anointed the sick, it's a profoundly sacred and holy experience.'
Father Donegan said he would pray for Americans, adding: 'Sadly attacking the Holy Father and depicting himself as Our Lord blessing the sick is indeed sick in itself.'
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, was 'disheartened', saying: 'Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.'
Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said the AI image was 'crazy' and as a Catholic he thought it was 'blasphemous'. He also told Sky News it was 'ridiculous', 'silly' and the President had 'destroyed his credibility' by posting the picture.
Italy's current prime minister Giorgia Meloni, a Right-wing ally of the White House, said: 'I find President Trump's words towards the Holy Father unacceptable. The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, it is right for him to call for peace.'
Pope Leo XIV arrives at the El Mouradia Presidential Palace in Algiers yesterday
Even Iran came to the Pope's defence, with president Masoud Pezeshkian writing on X: 'I condemn the insult to Your Excellency... and declare that the desecration of Jesus is not acceptable to any free person.'
Yesterday, Mr Trump – whose wife Melania is a practising Catholic - criticised Pope Leo XIV and claimed the first North American head of the Catholic Church 'wouldn't be in the Vatican' if it wasn't for him.
Responding yesterday morning, the Pope said he had 'no fear' of the President and will continue preaching what Christian doctrine teaches him about the evils of warfare.
After widespread condemnation, including from his supporters in the US, Mr Trump removed the image from social media.
Later – in an impromptu press conference while receiving a McDonald's delivery at the Oval Office – Mr Trump claimed he was depicted as a doctor in the picture.
He told reporters: 'It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better.'
He criticised the media for having 'come up' with a narrative that he looked like Jesus, and said 'there is nothing to apologise for'.
The spat came after Pope Leo said God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have their 'hands full of blood'.
Mr Trump attacked Pope Leo, branding him 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy'
He also called the conflict in Iran 'atrocious' and urged Mr Trump to find an 'off-ramp' before describing the President's threat to wipe out Iranian civilisation as 'truly unacceptable'.
Taking to Truth Social, the President said: 'I don't want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I'm doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.
'Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise... If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican. I don't want a pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.'
He doubled down when questioned by reporters, saying: 'I'm not a fan of Pope Leo. He's a very liberal person and he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping crime.'
The Pope said yesterday that he has 'no fear' of the US administration but doesn't 'want to get into a debate' with Mr Trump.
Of the AI image, he said: 'I don't think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.'
US Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, told Fox News: 'In some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality... and let the President United States stick to dictating American public policy.'
In his Easter message earlier this month, the pontiff had strongly criticised war, calling on 'those who have weapons (to) lay them down'.
He said: 'Let those who have the power to unleash wars, choose peace. Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue. Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them.'
Mr Trump has long reached out to America's evangelical Christians with his conservative, nativist vision. They backed him in his election wins in 2016 and 2024 despite a series of scandals and an ambiguous personal relationship with religion.
But Mr Trump, who has previously sold $60 Bibles branded with his name, appeared to have had something of an awakening during his second term.
At his inauguration last year he said he had been 'saved by God' after a 2024 assassination attempt on the campaign trail and has taken a more religious tone.
