Trump posts a picture of Jesus hugging him days after his AI-deity image drew widespread anger

President Donald Trump has posted an image of Jesus embracing him to his Truth Social account just days after widespread backlash over an image he shared depicting himself as the Messiah.

The new image, which appears to be AI-generated and was originally posted on X by a Trump supporter, depicts Jesus with an arm around the president’s shoulder and one hand on his chest in front of a halo of light and an American flag. Their heads are leaning against each other and both have their eyes closed.

Trump posted the picture Wednesday morning with the message: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!! President DJT.”

On Sunday, Trump posted an AI image on Truth Social portraying himself as Jesus in flowing robes and healing a sick man with beams of light coming out of his hands. In the image, Trump is surrounded by patriotic symbols, including an American flag, the Statue of Liberty and eagles.

The image sparked outrage among Christians and across the political spectrum. Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed the post and said she was “praying against it” while Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders described it as “deranged” and “egomaniacal behavior.”

“This should be deleted immediately. There’s no context where this is acceptable,” Christian activist Sean Feucht wrote on X.

MAGA influencer Riley Gaines questioned the post on X. “Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humanity would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked,” she wrote.

Members of faith-based media also shared criticisms of the post.

“This goes too far. It crosses the line,” David Brody, a journalist with the Christian Boadcasting Network wrote on X. “A supporter can back the mission and reject this.”

“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” wrote Megan Basham, a conservative writer and commentator. “But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.”

By Monday morning, the post had been deleted from Trump’s Truth Social feed. The president later defended the post while speaking to reporters outside the White House.

“I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor,” he said. “You know, as a little fun playing the doctor and making people better. So that’s what it was viewed as. That’s what most people thought.”

The president said he took down the image because he “didn’t want to have anybody be confused,” and blamed the “fake news” for causing the controversy.

Trump’s allusions to himself as a savior came as he gave an interview claiming to be the sole force preventing the world from falling apart.

“If I weren’t president, the world would be torn to pieces,” he told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl in an interview aired Wednesday.

The Trump administration is struggling to agree on a peace deal with Iran during the nations’ two-week ceasefire, which the president announced last week after threatening to obliterate “a whole civilization.”

The president suggested in the ABC News interview that a deal could be imminent, despite the first rounds of talks failing this past weekend.

“I think you’re going to be watching an amazing two days ahead,” Trump said. “I really do.”

The Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel at the end of February, has engulfed large parts of the Middle East in violence. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, according to state media, and millions across the region have been displaced. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, according to the Pentagon.

The conflict has battered economies around the world as Iran enforced blockades on the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for about 20 percent of the world’s oil. The war has led to oil prices hovering around $100 a barrel, and see the average U.S. gas price hit $4 a gallon.