Headline Roundup • April 13th, 2026
Trump Removes 'Blasphemous' Post After Bipartisan Backlash
Religion And Faith,Donald Trump,Pope Leo XIV,Catholic Church,Christianity,Social Media,War,Peace,Bipartisanship,Common Ground,Catholics
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President Donald Trump appeared to depict himself as Jesus Christ in an AI-generated Truth Social post on Sunday, after staunchly criticizing Pope Leo XIV and his leadership of the Catholic Church. He deleted the post on Monday, saying, "It's supposed to be me as a doctor."
Trump's Comments: "I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don't want a Pope who thinks it's terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And 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] 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."
Pope Leo's Response: "I am not a politician, and I don't want to get into a debate with him. I don't think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing… I will continue to speak strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, dialogue, and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems."
What Does The Bible Say? The Catholic Bible includes many verses about war and peace, which can exhibit some complexities in Catholic doctrine. The Book of Proverbs, for example, says both, "It is honorable to refrain from strife," and "Wage war by following wise guidance." Some Catholics may reference the Book of Ecclesiastes verse, "For everything there is a season… a time for war, and a time for peace." Others may point to the commandment, "You shall not murder," venerating Christ as the ultimate judge and peacemaker.
How The Media Covered It: Media across the political spectrum highlighted bipartisan criticism of the image, which many labeled as not only discourteous to post on Orthodox Easter but also blasphemous to Christianity in general. Some pro-Trump commentators framed it more softly as a meme directed at Pope Leo amid the leaders' controversy, but most news outlets, including both The Independent (Lean Left bias) and Fox News (Right), highlighted strong dissent from Christians and conservatives. However, The Independent assertively said the image depicted Trump as Christ, while Fox News said "critics felt" that way.
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Featured Coverage of this Story
President Donald Trump irked Americans on both sides of the aisle on Sunday night by posting a now-deleted, AI-generated image that critics felt depicted himself as Jesus Christ.
The image showed Trump healing a sick man while surrounded by followers and patriotic imagery such as the flag, a bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty. The post came as Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV as "weak on crime," "terrible for foreign policy" and accused him of "catering to the radical left" in a separate message.
Trump was asked about the...
Pope Leo XIV on Monday said he does not fear the Trump administration and will continue to speak out against the war in Iran, after President Donald Trump attacked him in a long social media post on Sunday night, claiming he was soft on crime and terrible at foreign policy—escalating a growing feud between the White House and the Vatican.
Key Facts
In his post, Trump described Leo as "WEAK on Crime," and "terrible for Foreign Policy," and said he liked the Pope's brother Louis better than him because he...
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social via The Independent (cropped)
A picture depicting Donald Trump as Jesus Christ has been deleted from the president's Truth Social account after a wave of backlash from far-right Christian figures accusing him of blasphemy.
The image, which appears to be AI-generated, was posted to the president's social media account after he labeled Pope Leo XIV "WEAK" on crime and "terrible" on foreign policy in a Sunday night screed.
The image depicts the president in a white robe and red sash with a glowing outstretched hand placed on the forehead of a man in a...
