Trump Refuses to Apologize to Pope Leo, Faces Backlash Over AI Image Depicting Him as Jesus

President Trump is standing firm, refusing to apologize to Pope Leo after attacking the pontiff for criticizing the Iran war, and now facing bipartisan blowback over an AI-generated social media image that appeared to depict the president as Jesus Christ.

Trump acknowledged posting the image, which was taken down Monday afternoon, but offered an explanation. "I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor," he said. "It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better." Vice President JD Vance backed that framing, telling Fox News the president was posting a joke and took it down once he realized people weren't getting the humor.

Not everyone was laughing. The backlash came swiftly, and notably from within Trump's own base. Trump ally Riley Gaines posted, "A little humility would serve him well," and "God shall not be mocked." Senator Elizabeth Warren was more blunt, saying if Trump genuinely believed the image showed him as a doctor, "he's lost his grasp on reality, and that's even more concerning."

The image controversy followed Trump's public comments against Pope Leo, whom he accused of being "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy" for opposing the Iran war. Asked Monday whether he owes the pope an apology, Trump said no. "Pope Leo said things that are wrong. He was very much against what I'm doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran."

Pope Leo, speaking to NBC News aboard the papal plane, pushed back. "I have no fear of neither the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the gospel."

Even some Republican senators are urging caution. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of 24 Catholics in the Senate, put it simply: "It's never really a good look for politicians to cross swords with Popes. Very seldom ends well."