Khaberni - American President Donald Trump posted a picture of himself as if "Christ" was embracing him, at a time when there are no signs of de-escalation in the verbal war between his administration and Pope Leo XIV of the Vatican.
The picture - which Trump reposted on his account on his platform "Truth Social" - shows Trump with his eyes closed, and his forehead touching that of "Christ" standing in a similar pose. In the background is an American flag. The original post was accompanied by a comment that included the phrase "Perhaps the Lord is using his trump card!"
Trump added in his post, "The crazy leftists might not like this, but I think it's very nice!!!"
Earlier this week, Trump posted a picture that showed him resembling "Christ". The post drew widespread criticism of the Republican president, and he later deleted it.
Trump - who does not regularly attend church - has a large base of Christian voters, including Catholics. He has clashed with Pope Leo XIV, who is the first leader of the Catholic Church born in the United States, and a vocal critic of the American-Israeli war on Iran.
Last night, Trump reiterated his criticism of the Catholic religious leader. In a separate post on his platform "Truth Social", Trump urged someone to "tell Pope Leo about Iran killing protesters, and that Iran having a nuclear bomb is utterly unacceptable".
Last Tuesday evening, Vice President J.D. Vance - who converted to Catholicism in 2019 - said, "The Pope was wrong when he said that Christ's disciples never stand with those who wielded swords in the past and throw bombs today..., and it's very, very important that the Pope be cautious when speaking about theological matters."
In response to previous attacks by Trump, Leo said he "is not afraid of Trump's administration and will continue to express his opinions". In a strong speech he delivered on Monday in Algeria, the Pope denounced the "new colonial powers" that he said are violating international law, without mentioning specific countries.
