On April 12, President Donald Trump posted an artificially-generated photo of himself on Truth Social that portrays him putting his glowing hands on a sick man while American citizens watch. The image depicts President Trump in white robes, and combined with “miraculous healing powers,” many viewed it as the President impersonating Jesus Christ. 

The image, which has now been taken down, was posted on the evening of Easter Sunday. This image led to backlash from both conservative and liberal parties. The post came only hours after President Trump had criticized Pope Leo XIV for being weak on crime and his political anti-war stance on the current Iranian war. The backlash is sparked by the fact that the picture was uploaded on Easter, an important Christian holiday, especially in the United States. About 80% of people in the U.S celebrate Easter, amounting to over 2 billion people worldwide. Many Americans who celebrate Easter, including his own supporters, sparked outcry over the president posting the photo, calling it blasphemous.

After the photo was removed, President Trump gave a statement on the post in an interview at the White House on April 13. He said he believed that he was being portrayed as a doctor.

There’s some speculation as to what message the President truly meant to send. “He knows what he’s doing, and he knows that he wasn’t portraying himself as a doctor,” said Melina Bagnaschi, a Christian and sophomore at Huntington Beach High School (HBHS). “He’s manipulating his cult to eat out of the palm of his hand and to obey whatever he says, because they basically think he is the new coming of Christ.” 

On April 15, Trump posted another AI-generated image of him and Jesus Christ together, with Christ’s arm around his shoulder in an embrace. The photo was originally posted on an account on X, formerly Twitter, which President Trump reposted and captioned, “The radical left lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!! President DJT.”

“I feel like since President Trump’s in office, high schoolers and younger have had to start to actually pay attention to politics and worry about where the world is going, instead of being able to be kids and just enjoy the present and not worry about the future,” said an HBHS student who chose to remain anonymous.

Zachary Kuskie, a junior at Marina High School, said, “Truly, if the president wants to pose himself as christian, that’s fine. But don’t you dare double down on that by posting yourself as God using AI. He just wants to be portrayed as having an unlimited amount of power. We live in a world where satirical TV shows predict the future, like The Boys. The main villain Homelander is charismatic but he gets the public’s adoration and he can get away with anything. That’s exactly what’s happening.”

Ultimately, the public backlash towards the artificially-generated images not only shows concern about religious blasphemy, but also AI usage in today’s modern world. For many, the timing of the photo and the description of it left some feeling unhappy and even angered at President Trump. For some who identify as Christian, they criticize accountability and how, for a self-proclaimed Christian president,  he can make “blasphemous jokes.” The Trump administration has been widely criticized by both sides, but this new controversy could potentially ruin the president’s moral reputation for the following years in his presidency.