President Posts AI Healing Image Forty-Six Minutes After Calling Pope WEAK on Crime

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President Posts AI Healing Image Forty-Six Minutes After Calling Pope WEAK on Crime

00:00 / 00:03:32

The Dispatch

At 9:03 PM on April 12, 2026, President Donald J. Trump posted to Truth Social a lengthy critique of Pope Leo XIV, describing the pontiff as WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy. The post, which received 5,820 ReTruths and 21,500 Likes, stated that the President did not want a Pope who thought it was acceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon, nor one who objected to the American military operation in Venezuela. It further stated that Pope Leo owed his position to the President, on the grounds that the Catholic Church had selected an American pontiff specifically to facilitate dealings with the White House. The President indicated he preferred Leo’s brother Louis, whom he described as all MAGA. The post closed with the instruction that Leo should focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.

At 9:49 PM on the same evening, forty-six minutes later, the President posted an AI-generated image to Truth Social. The image depicts the President in white and red robes consistent with religious iconography, his right hand resting on the forehead of an elderly bedridden man, from whose head and from the President’s hand light is visibly emanating. Surrounding figures include a praying woman, a soldier in a military cap, a bearded man, and a nurse in blue scrubs. The background contains a large American flag, bald eagles, fighter jets, fireworks, and the Statue of Liberty. Military figures ascend into heavenly light above the central composition. The post received 2,630 ReTruths and 11,100 Likes.

The image is not the first of its kind. During the official mourning period for the late Pope Francis in May 2025, prior to Leo’s election, the President posted a separately generated AI image depicting himself in papal vestments. That image was also shared to the White House’s official social media account. Following Leo’s election on May 8, 2025, the President described the development as such a Great Honor for our Country and said he looked forward to a very meaningful moment of meeting. On April 12, 2026, to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, the President stated he did not think Leo was doing a very good job and said, of the pontiff’s policy positions, he likes crime, I guess.

Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born leader of the Catholic Church, was aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria at the time of the President’s Sunday night posts, beginning an eleven-day tour of four African nations. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Pope confirmed he had no fear of the Trump administration and stated his appeals for peace were rooted in the Gospel. He noted that the Church does not approach foreign policy from the same perspective the President might understand. The image of the President remained posted to the Truth Social account as of Monday morning.

The Pope’s response was filed from the plane.

Source Block

Original source — text post: Truth Social @realDonaldTrump
Original source — image post: Truth Social @realDonaldTrump
Archived copy: archive.org
Screenshot on file: screenshots/trump-pope-leo-ai-healing-image.png
Retrieved: 2026-04-13

Additional sources: