Trump Sparks Backlash With Jesus-Like Image Posted on Truth Social

Donald Trump drew fresh backlash by posting an image that showed him in a white robe and red sash, with a ball of light in one hand and the other hand extended in a healing pose, a rendering that made him appear in the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Trump posted the image on Truth Social on Sunday, April 12, 2026, on Orthodox Easter, one week after Easter Sunday in the United States and much of the Christian world. The post came after a lengthy Truth Social attack on Pope Leo XIV, in which Trump called the pontiff “WEAK on Crime” and blasted him over the Iran war.

CBS News described the image as a slightly altered version of one posted months earlier by right-wing influencer Nick Adams. Other coverage said it appeared to be AI-generated or seemingly AI-generated, adding to a pattern of stylized self-portraits Trump has shared online, including an earlier image depicting him as pope.

The backlash was immediate and unusually sharp, even among Trump’s conservative allies. Riley Gaines, Cam Higby, Daily Wire contributor Michael Knowles, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and New York Times columnist David French all criticized the post. The Hill said critics called it blasphemous, while Forbes reported that even some of Trump’s longtime Christian supporters were outraged. Greene said she was “praying against” the post and said Trump was “replacing Jesus.”

Sky News reported that the response on Truth Social itself was atypically critical, a rare sign of resistance inside Trump’s own online ecosystem. That matters because Trump has long depended on strong support from white evangelical Christians, who remain among his most reliable voters.

Pew Research Center found in February 2026 that 69% of white evangelicals approved of the way Trump was handling his job as president, and 58% said they supported all or most of his plans and policies. The episode now tests whether Trump’s use of religious imagery is simply provocation or a political risk, especially as he escalates a public feud with Pope Leo XIV and keeps blending personal branding, memes and faith symbolism into the same political message.