Trump Deletes AI Image Post Amid Backlash Over Jesus Depiction

President Donald Trump deleted a social media post on Monday that featured an AI-generated image depicting him in a pose resembling Jesus Christ healing a sick man, following criticism from religious leaders and conservative figures. The post, shared on Truth Social Sunday night from Washington, showed Trump floating above a bedridden individual in ancient robes, with light emanating from his hands and onlookers gazing upward in apparent reverence, including one with hands folded in prayer.

Trump addressed the controversy during an impromptu exchange with reporters at the White House, where he received a McDonald's delivery from DoorDash driver Sharon Simmons. He acknowledged posting the image himself and insisted it portrayed him as a doctor associated with the Red Cross. "It was me. I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support," Trump said. "Only the fake news could come up with that one." He added, "It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better." The image contained no explicit Red Cross symbols, though it included a nurse-like figure.