Donald Trump
Manchester Evening News

Donald Trump has escalated his public feud with Pope Leo XIV, saying the pontiff 'should be thankful' to him and sharing a new AI image of himself with Jesus. The post came days after critics condemned an earlier image that appeared to depict Trump as Christ.

The latest exchange has unfolded on Truth Social against the backdrop of an increasingly personal clash between the president and the Pope. In recent days, Leo has used public messages to condemn the 'idolatry of self and money' and call for peace in Ukraine, Lebanon and Sudan, while Trump has responded with provocative religious imagery and claims that he was effectively responsible for Leo's rise to the papacy.

AI Jesus Image Fuels Trump–Pope Leo XIV Showdown

Trump's newest post, which he described as 'quite nice', shows Jesus comforting him. It followed an earlier AI image that appeared to cast Trump as Jesus Christ in a hospital ward, surrounded by nurses, veterans, military personnel and patriotic American symbols.

'The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!! President DJT,' Trump wrote beneath the new image.

The earlier picture drew swift backlash online. Democratic commentator Harry Sisson shared a screenshot on X and wrote that 'Trump is now posting AI images of himself as Jesus Christ healing, what appears to be, a young Jeffrey Epstein', while another user replied: 'That is some blasphemous bulls***.'

According to the Irish Star, Trump later appeared to delete the original post as his dispute with Pope Leo XIV intensified. There is no indication in the available reporting that the Vatican has formally responded to the imagery itself.

Trump Claims He Put Pope Leo XIV 'In The Vatican'

The fight is not really about art. It is about power, legitimacy and who gets to define Christian leadership in a hyper-political age. In a series of messages on Truth Social, Trump branded Pope Leo XIV 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy' and then went much further, suggesting Leo owes his entire position to the Trump presidency.

'Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn't on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump,' Trump wrote. 'If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican.'

There is no supporting evidence in the reporting that the College of Cardinals based its choice on Trump, nor that Leo was 'only put there' to manage relations with his administration. The claim rests solely on Trump's account and is not corroborated by official Church records.

Trump's posts also took aim at the Pope's family, praising Leo's brother Louis as a committed supporter of his Make America Great Again movement. 'He gets it, and Leo doesn't!' the president insisted, casting the pontiff as the out-of-touch sibling in a transatlantic political family drama.

The president accused Leo of believing 'it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon' and criticised him for opposing the U.S. decision to attack Venezuela, which Trump described as a state that had been 'sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country.' These assertions are presented as Trump's characterisations; the Irish Star article does not provide independent verification of Leo's private views on Iran or Venezuela.

Trump then folded his own record into the tirade, arguing he was doing 'exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do', citing 'Record Low Numbers in Crime' and 'the Greatest Stock Market in History'. Those boasts are familiar Trump rhetoric rather than fact-checked economic or crime summaries in the piece itself.

He also accused Pope Leo XIV of 'meeting with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod' and 'catering to the Radical Left', concluding that this was 'hurting the Catholic Church'. Again, there is no additional sourcing here beyond Trump's complaint.

Pope Leo XIV Stresses 'Enough Of The Idolatry Of Self'

While Trump has been posting AI religious imagery, Pope Leo XIV has been using his public platform to focus on conflict and peace. On Saturday, he wrote on X: 'Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life. #Peace'

The timing of that message led many observers to read it as an indirect rebuke to Trump's style of politics, though the post did not name him directly. Leo followed it with appeals for prayer and peace in several active conflict zones.

As Orthodox Christians marked Easter under the Julian calendar on Sunday, the Pope urged followers to '#PrayTogether' for 'the dear people of Ukraine' and said the 'international community's attention to the tragedy of this war' must not waver. In another message, he turned to the Israeli offensive on Lebanon, cited the country's health ministry death toll and called for an immediate ceasefire and a 'peaceful solution'.

A third post marked what he called the 'bloodstained' third anniversary of the conflict in Sudan. 'How much the Sudanese people are suffering, innocent victims of this inhuman tragedy!' he wrote, urging the warring sides to 'silence their weapons and begin, without preconditions, a sincere dialogue'.

The result is an unusually stark split screen. One global figure is urging followers to reject self worship and pursue peace, while the other is sharing AI images of himself with Jesus and insisting the Pope owes him gratitude.

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