(Warning: This entry begins with an intemperate phrase not normally uttered by the author but circumstances have driven him to do so because there appears no better way to state the case).
If there are any people in the world that Donald Trump hasn’t pissed off yet, do not despair. The rest surely will be included soon. (Messrs Putin, Un, and Xi excepted).
Even his evangelical Christian friends have been taken aback by his attack on the pope coupled with the totally indefensible image of him apparently raising a modern Lazarus from the dead. 
He could have said the image was a symbolic representation of his claim that he inherited a dead country but raised it up to be the hottest country in the world, a claim that would be only slightly less ridiculous than what he told reporters it was: “I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker, which we support.” Why he thought anybody with an IQ above five would buy the explanation that he thought he was portraying a doctor will forever be a mystery.
“Had to do with the Red Cross?” We’re not sure if the woman in the lower right corner is a nurse or an airline cabin attendant. Had she been a nurse, she might have had a red cross on her blouse. But there is nothing in the image that would lead any sentient being to think “Red Cross” when they looked at it.
And “doctor?” Nobody from Doctor Kildare to The Pitt has ever worn that kind of outfit. And his claim only shows him to be more of a fool.
The image is full of nationalistic symbols—the Statue of Liberty, the fighter jets roaring overhead, the flag. We’re not sure what the figures above his head are (one has wings). Perhaps they are the spirits of his battlefield casualties rising to a place he has said he’s not sure he’ll go.
Not Jesus? The piece is reminiscent of this image we discovered on the internet. I have not discovered the artist so he or she could be properly credited, but the attire and the general mood of the work can easily lead one to think Trump-as-Jesus or Donald the Christ if you will, seems pretty derivative.
Jesus undoubtedly never looked like this WASP. It is an image any White Christian Nationalist would enjoy hanging in living room, though.
Vice President J.D. Vance rushed to his boss’s defense with the absurd suggestion that Trump was only joking and, “He took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case.”
The Knights Templar, which began as a Catholic military order supporting the first Crusade a thousand years ago, called the image “offensive and blasphemous,” and said it was “deeply offended by this and have no other choice but to condemn it wholeheartedly and ask for a public apology to the Christian brethren who have been deeply upset by this depiction. We respectfully remind President Trump of the Bible Scripture found in Galatians 6:7 ‘God will not be mocked.'”
The furor caused the Dr. Jesus Trump image to be withdrawn from the Trump Social page, although not until twelve hours had passed. But the damning evidence has been preserved by the “fake news” and numerous social media sources with which we proudly identify. We wonder if his ego will cause either image to be displayed in the Trump Presidential Liebrary.
During his first term, a national poll showed almost two-thirds of Americans did not believe he was religious and 56 percent didn’t believe he is a Christian.
We haven’t seen a more recent one but it’s hard to believe the numbers would be noticeably more favorable—-
—especially after he attacked Pope Leo XIV about an hour before the Donald John Christ image was being circulated. His post on his webpage offered the outrageous claim that he was responsible in a back-handed way for Pope Leo becoming the head of the church.
Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!
The reference to arresting “churchgoers and clerics” refers to the pre-vaccine times during the COVID epidemics when many states and cities banned large gatherings of people such as worship services to control spread of the disease.
The pope was not ruffled by Trump’s attack. He told reporters, “The things I say are not meant as attacks on anyone…I do not look at my role as being political, a politician. I don’t want to get into a debate with him. I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.”
In Cameroon last Thursday, Pope Leo XIV did not let up:
Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth…
The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found…It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience. We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity. The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters! They are the descendants of Abraham, as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Let us look into each other’s eyes: we are this immense people! Peace is not something we must invent: it is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbor as our brother and as our sister. We do not choose our brothers and sisters: we simply must accept one another! We are one family, inhabiting the same home: this wonderful planet that ancient cultures have cared for across millennia.
The New York Times commented that Trump is suffering from Pope Derangement Syndrome.
Last Thursday, the Trump administration cancelled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities that provides shelter and care to migrant children who come into the country without a parent or guardian. Was the timing unfortunate or another example of his petty vindictiveness? Some Catholic friends don’t have much doubt, although reports in Miami indicate the administration started thinking about this about three weeks ago.
That same day, Trump tried to say people shouldn’t be offended by his harsh attacks on the pope. “I have nothing against the pope. I’m not fighting with him. The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
That is, as usual, a lie. The pope has said no such thing. He said last month on X, “Let us #PrayTogether that nations move toward effective disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, and that world leaders choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy instead of violence.”
A lot of Catholics supported Trump in 2024. Some leading Catholic authorities say they’ll be watching the impact of Trump’s attack to see if it changes some minds. The Associated Press talked to Director David Gibson at the Fordham University Center on Religion and Culture, who said many Catholics have been critical of the pope’s criticism of trump. But, “If this attack on the pope does not shift that dynamic in a marked way, it will truly be a watershed moment…with American Catholics choosing a Catholic-baiting president over their own pope”
I’ll bet you that Donald Trump won’t pray for the pope but the pope will pray for Donald Trump.
Photo Credit: Trump as “Red Cross” worker—Trump White House, using an image from an Instagram post by Nick Adams; Image of Jesus—unknown).