If there's one phrase that could be used to sum up Donald Trump's presidency, it would certainly be "fake news". Everything the press says about him is - supposedly - fake news, everything he says about anyone else usually ends up being fake news, and, in one news interview, the former Apprentice host claims to have actually invented the term (which was, of course, fake news). As we all know, though, fake news has been around for quite some time. Parody sites like The Onion pre-exist the Trump presidency by quite some time, and spoof shows such as The Day Today date back over 20 years. However, according to the Pope, the first instance of fake news happened way more than a couple of decades ago. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/818990655418617856?]] In an official document titled, "The truth will set you free - fake news and journalism for peace", Pope Francis addresses the issues surrounding false reports and fabricated "facts" - but he never references Donald Trump or his administration directly. "The tragedy of disinformation is that it discredits others, presenting them as enemies, to the point of demonising them and fomenting conflict," the document said. "Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth." The pontiff then went on to say that the first case of fake news happened in the Garden of Eden, when Eve was tempted to take an apple from the garden following lies by the serpent. "The strategy of this skilled 'Father of Lies' is precisely mimicry, that sly and dangerous form of seduction that worms its way into the heart with false and alluring arguments," he said, alluding to the lies told by the devil. In order to combat fake news, the head of the Catholic Church implored for reporters to produce journalism that is "truthful and opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans, and sensational headlines." The document was distributed at a time when people began to question exactly how much of an influence fake news had on Donald Trump's successful campaign. Indeed, shortly before the election took place in 2016, more than 140 sites were discovered to have deliberately created or shared fake news in order to drive traffic to their platform. Though the news may have been generated with the simple intention to increase revenue, the stories that were posted may have had a serious effect on voters' decisions - especially as headlines such as "Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President" and "FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide" were seen by hundreds of thousands of people. In a clarifying statement, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said: "The Pope is not saying that all journalists are snakes but he is certainly acknowledging that they can be." And, while it's true that journalists have a responsibility to report the truth, the President has an even greater responsibility to recognize as being true, rather than dismissing anything that does not align with his agenda.

Donald Trump is the talk of the internet once again after he claimed to have invented a word that has actually been around for centuries.

Trump has made a bold claim, once again. Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty

After the Vatican announced that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost had been elected as the first-ever American pope — taking the name Pope Leo XIV — Trump was quick to react with congratulations.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

So far, pretty standard — until he followed up with a post that made some bold implications.

In a second Truth Social post shared yesterday (May 12), Trump seemed to imply that his own popularity with Catholic American voters may have somehow played a role in the Vatican’s decision-making.

“So funny to watch old timer Martha Raditz [correctly spelt Raddatz] on ABC Fake News (the Slopadopolus show!) this morning, blurt out that, effectively, Pope Leo’s selection had nothing to do with Donald Trump,” he wrote, referencing Raddatz’s interview with Cardinal Blasé Cupich on This Week.

Trump seems to think he influenced the conclave. Credit: Vatican Pool / Getty

“It came out of nowhere, but it was on her Trump Deranged Mind,” Trump continued. “Remember, I did WIN the Catholic Vote, by a lot!

“Bob Iger should do something about the losers and haters he’s got on his low rated shows. It’s time for change. MAGA!!!”

There is no evidence that Trump had any influence on the conclave.

If that wasn’t enough eyebrow-raising for one day, Trump made headlines again during a White House press conference while discussing his administration’s new plan to regulate drug pricing.

“The rest of the world is going to have to pay a bit more, and America's going to pay a lot less. Again, because it is a smaller population than when you think of the whole world,” he explained.

Then came the kicker: “So basically what we are doing is equalizing. It's a new word that I came up with, which I think is probably the best word. We're gonna equalize. We're all gonna pay the same. We're gonna pay what Europe's gonna pay.”

The word "equalizing" dates back to 1559, according to Merriam-Webster, and Trump isn't that old.

People on social media let their thoughts known, with one saying: "I’m sure I’d heard that ‘equalise’ word before?!"

A second said: "There was a TV show in the 80s named The Equalizer. Did he invent the word in 1983 and is just reminiscing?"

But none of this should come as any surprise, after Trump claimed that he should be the next Pope and even shared an AI image of himself dressed in the attire.

The President denied that he had any involvement with the image, but it was shared on his official personal accounts.

Featured image credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty

"Fake news." It's a phrase which Republican president Donald Trump has made famous. Yet more often than not, the term "fake news" has been used against him, flung at him like a missile by his detractors. Whether it's Kellyanne Conway's praising the virtue of "alternative facts" or Trump himself inventing an African nation (try and find "Nambia" on a map, go on; it's just south of Narnia), the Trump administration has ironically garnered something of a reputation for making misleading statements. It's got to the point where you could probably make up just about any story about Donald Trump and people would take it as gospel... and unsurprisingly, that's exactly what has happened on a number of occasions. Yes, the press hasn't exactly been blameless when it comes to the issue of reporting on the man with the tan, and are just as guilty of printing or posting "alternative facts" as the White House. Scroll down to check out the seven times where the news was completely wrong about Donald Trump:

1. The Brian Ross report

In December 2017, Brian Ross, CNN's top political reporter, made the erroneous claim that Michael Flynn (Trump's former national security adviser) was expected to testify that Trump had been a presidential candidate when he contacted Russian officials. Flynn eventually pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian liaisons prior to Trump's inauguration in January 2017. Ross was criticised for his reporting, and ended up suspended for four weeks following the incident. Trump responded with the tweet: "Congratulations to @ABC News for suspending Brian Ross for his horrendously inaccurate and dishonest report on the Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt. More Networks and "papers" should do the same with their Fake News!"

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2.  The MLK bust

Mere hours after his inauguration, Trump was already having to contend with fabricated stories about his tenure. On 20th January 2017, Time magazine reporter Zeke Miller noticed upon entering the Oval Office that a bust of former British prime minister Winston Churchill, which Obama had replaced with one of Martin Luther King, Jr, was back in its old spot. The bust of Dr King was nowhere to be seen. At 12.21 Miller tweeted that the bust was missing, but later on, at 13.14, he noticed that it had actually be obscured by a secret service agent and was still there. But it was too late and the damage was done, and soon many people made the wrongful assumption that Trump was snubbing the civil rights leader. Miller quickly corrected his own error, but Trump had the last word the next day, and stated: "So Zeke, from Time magazine, writes a story about, I took down — I would never do that, because I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King. But this is how dishonest the media is."

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/822622287312617473]]

3. The Wikileaks document

In December 2017, CNN also reported that that Trump and Donald Trump Jr had had access to hacked Wikileaks documents which they used to aid their presidential campaign. However, the news outlet fudged the dates, stating that Trump received them on 4 September 2016, not 16 September, when they were already public. Trump Jr tweeted in response: "I know you can’t help but spread #fakenews @cnn, but now that you know the truth you should have the decency to retract the false story, make the correction, take down the bs tweet, and apologise to the 2 or 3 people that still believe you to be credible."

4. The climate report

In August 2017, The New York Times falsely claimed that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report which would have contradicted his own environmental policy. However, the report they claimed Trump buried had already been publicly available for seven months. The Times added a correction and stated:  "This report was uploaded to a nonprofit internet digital library in January but received little attention until it was published by The New York Times."

5. The golden handshake

News sources are always keen to seize on any footage that makes Trump look blundering and they thought they had their chance with this diplomatic meeting, in which some sneaky editing, courtesy of Newsweek, made it seem as though Polish first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda had snubbed Trump and refused to shake his hand. However, the rest of the video later surfaced and showed that Kornhauser-Duda had actually darted to shake Melania Trump's hand first, and then Donald Trump's hand shortly afterwards, but stood at an angle which obscured this. Newsweek later posted the extended video.

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6. Feeding the fish

In November 2017, CNN (guilty again) edited this video of Donald Trump feeding fish in a pond alongside Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. The video appeared to show the two men throwing fish food out of small cardboard boxes into the mouths of the hungry fish below, and that Trump had overfed them by tipping the entire contents of his box into the water in one go. What CNN neglected to include was footage of Abe doing the exact same thing moments earlier. Oops.

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7. The secret meeting

In June 2017, before he was about to testify before congress, CNN wrongly reported that James Comey, the former FBI director who was dismissed by President Trump, was planning to dispute Trump's claim that he was told he was not under investigation. CNN later corrected the mistake, writing: "The article and headline have been corrected to reflect that Comey does not directly dispute that Trump was told multiple times he was not under investigation in his prepared testimony released after this story was published." Perhaps the above stories will go some way towards rehabilitating Trump's image; especially since a recent report shows that his approval rating is currently 22 percentage points lower than the average modern president’s, and his net approval rating makes him the only president to have been in negative territory one year into his first term. Even small children seem to think that he's having a bad time in office, as this hilarious Jimmy Kimmel skit shows.

Donald Trump has attempted to explain away the AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ that he posted on Truth Social on Sunday night.

The president's defence came when he was questioned by reporters about the now-deleted post, which sparked outrage from even his most loyal supporters and was branded 'blasphemous' by prominent figures across the Christian right.

In true Trump fashion, he also managed to blame the media for the whole thing.

But before we get to his explanation - which is, frankly, magnificent - let's remind ourselves what all the fuss was about.

What did the image actually show?

The AI-generated picture showed Trump draped in flowing white and red robes, laying his hand on the forehead of a sick man in a hospital bed - with light beaming from the man's head as though Trump were healing him through divine power.

Behind him were bald eagles, fighter jets, the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, the American flag, and what appeared to be demonic horned figures floating in the sky where soldiers had appeared in the original version of the image.

The image appeared on Trump's Truth Social account less than an hour after he launched a scathing attack on Pope Leo XIV, calling the pontiff 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.' He posted it on Orthodox Easter. During an active war with Iran. Minutes after going after the head of the Catholic Church.

So, the timing wasn't exactly subtle.

What did Trump say the picture actually was?

Here's where it gets good.

When pressed by reporters, Trump said: "It wasn't a depiction, I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one."

He added: "It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better."

A doctor. In flowing biblical robes. With divine light emanating from his hands. Surrounded by eagles and heavenly figures. On Orthodox Easter.

Apparently, if you saw anything religious in that, that's your problem - and the fault of the 'fake news', obviously.

White House chief photographer Daniel Torok also tried to play down the controversy, insisting on X that the image was not meant to portray Trump as Jesus, arguing there were no 'halos, no thorns, no nail marks, no angels' in the picture.

How did people react?

This is where it gets interesting, because the backlash didn't just come from the usual critics. It came from Trump's own base.

Former MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X: "It's more than blasphemy. It's an Antichrist spirit."

Conservative Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham added: "I don't know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy."

Fox News contributor Riley Gaines wrote: "Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he'd post this. A little humility would serve him well. God shall not be mocked."

Even MAGA influencer Sean Feucht, who has performed worship music at the White House and Mar-a-Lago, said: "This should be deleted immediately. There is no context where this is acceptable."

Christian influencer Mandy Arthur, meanwhile, offered perhaps the most memorable response: "God, we might have made a mistake and accidentally elected the Antichrist. Send help."

What was the fallout with Pope Leo?

The image came just minutes after Trump went after Pope Leo XIV in a lengthy Truth Social rant, claiming: "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican."

The pair clashed over comments the Pontiff made about the US war with Iran.

He doubled down when speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews later that evening.

"I don't think he's doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess," Trump said. "I am not a fan of Pope Leo. He's a very liberal person, and he's a man who doesn't believe in stopping crime."

Pope Leo, for his part, kept things characteristically measured. Speaking to reporters aboard a papal flight to Algeria on Monday, he said: "I have no fear of the Trump administration. I will not enter into debate."

He added that his goal is simply to 'continue on with what I believe is the mission of the Church in the world today' - which, right now, appears to involve being a lot calmer than the President of the United States.

Has the image been taken down?

Yes. As of Monday morning, the post had been removed from Trump's Truth Social account. No formal statement has been issued by the White House.

Still, we now know the truth. It wasn't Jesus. It was a doctor. In robes. With glowing hands. Healing through the power of... medicine, presumably.

Glad we cleared that up.

Featured image credit: Truth Social

Donald Trump has once again come under fire for his social media conduct, this time in relation to an AI image uploaded to his Truth Social account.

The President has already been criticized after calling Pope Leo XIV "weak" in a post over the weekend, but just minutes later, the 79-year-old raised eyebrows with a "blasphemous" post.

Trump had reportedly fallen out with the Pope after a meeting between a Catholic official and the Pentagon had ended on bad terms, fracturing the pair's relationship.

This had resulted in claims that the American Pope would not visit the US while Trump was in office, even allegedly turning down an invitation to attend the nation's 250-year celebrations on July 4.

Now, though, the President has seemingly added fuel to the fire by posting an image that depicts him as Jesus Christ himself, after the Pope criticized the President for his role in the Iran war.

Details of the controversial image

President Trump posted the photo just minutes after openly criticizing the leader of the Catholic Church, where he is seen in robes similar to those which Jesus is often depicted with.

He can be seen looking of higher power, while healing an elderly man who appears unwell in a hospital bed.

Nurses, veterans and soldiers can be seen surrounding him as he has his hand on the head of the sick man.

In the background are some patriotic symbols, such as the American flag, the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and an eagle soaring through the sky.

Warplanes can also been seen in the background, as well as what look to be figures emerging from heaven as fireworks are going off.

Some social media users claimed that Trump looked to be healing "a young Jeffrey Epstein," though this isn't clear, while others branded the AI image as "some blasphemous bulls***."

What did Trump say about Pope Leo?

He posted a rant about the Pope, claiming that he was "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," while even taking credit for his election win.

Trump claimed: "He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart.

"I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country," he added.

He then said that he has been "setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History".

Trump even claimed that Leo wouldn't be Pope if he weren't President, claiming that he should "use common sense" and "focus on being a Great Pope, not a politician."

Pope Leo's response to Trump's comments

Speaking to journalists on a flight heading to Algiers today (April 13), Leo claimed that he has “no fear of the Trump administration," and that he will continue to speak out about his concerns.

The Pope said on the Papal plane: “I will not enter into debate. The things I say are not meant as attacks on anyone,

“I am inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, of looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible,” reports CNN.

The pontiff said that his goal is to "continue on with what I believe is the mission of the Church in the world today.”

He highlighted that as he does not fear the Trump administration or speaking the word of the Gospel, he will not stop speaking his mind.

"We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective (as) he might understand it. But I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker,” the Pope concluded.

Featured image credit: Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

Donald Trump has posted yet another AI-generated image of Jesus Christ to Truth Social - just days after being forced to delete the last one after even his own supporters called it 'blasphemous'.

The new image, shared on Wednesday morning, shows Jesus with his arm around the president in a tender embrace, their heads leaning together with eyes closed, in front of an American flag and a celestial glow.

"The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!" Trump wrote alongside the post.

If you thought the backlash from Sunday's image might have given him pause, it appears you'd be wrong.

What does the new image show?

The picture was a screenshot of a post originally shared on X by the account @Dkelly4congress, which featured the AI-generated image of Jesus embracing Trump along with the caption: "I was never a very religious man.. but doesn't it seem, with all these satanic, demonic, child sacrificing monsters being exposed… that God might be playing his Trump card!"

The language appears to reference the conspiracy theory at the centre of the QAnon movement, which claims Trump is secretly battling a global network of child traffickers.

Trump reposted the image to his Truth Social account with his own caption mocking what he called 'radical left lunatics' - framing the backlash to the original post as a left-wing issue, rather than the bipartisan outcry it actually was.

What happened with the first image?

The new post comes just three days after Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ healing a sick man in a hospital bed, complete with biblical robes, glowing hands, and patriotic imagery.

That image - posted on Orthodox Easter, less than an hour after he attacked Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social - prompted fierce criticism from across the political spectrum. But it was the reaction from within Trump's own base that really stung.

Former MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called it 'more than blasphemy' and described it as 'an Antichrist spirit'.

Fox News contributor Riley Gaines wrote: "A little humility would serve him well. God shall not be mocked."

Conservative Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham called it 'OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy' and urged Trump to 'ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God'.

Social media users also flagged demonic-looking horned figures in the background of the image, which had not appeared in the original version posted months earlier by MAGA influencer Nick Adams.

The figures appeared where American soldiers had previously been, suggesting the image had been run through additional AI processing before Trump shared it.

The image was quietly deleted from Truth Social by Monday morning.

What did Trump say about the original image?

When pressed by reporters, Trump offered a now-infamous explanation for the deleted post.

"It wasn't a depiction, I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with [the] red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one," he said.

He added: "It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better."

Vice President JD Vance offered a slightly different take on Fox News, telling host Bret Baier: "I think the president was posting a joke.

"He took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren't understanding his humor in that case."

Trump also told reporters he took the image down because he 'didn't want to have anybody be confused' - though the posting of a second Jesus image just 48 hours later would suggest the confusion hasn't entirely cleared.

What has the reaction been to the new image?

At the time of writing, the response to the latest post is still developing.

However, the fact that this image shows Jesus alongside Trump rather than depicting Trump as Jesus may be seen as a slight step back from the original - even if the accompanying caption about 'satanic, demonic, child sacrificing monsters' is unlikely to calm the waters.

The new post also comes in the middle of Trump's ongoing feud with Pope Leo, who said on Monday that he has 'no fear of the Trump administration' and would continue speaking out for peace.

Pope Leo then posted a message on X that many interpreted as a subtle response to both Trump and Vance, writing: "God's heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud."

Whether Trump's decision to post another Jesus image so soon after deleting the last one is a calculated provocation, a doubling down after criticism, or simply the president being the president is open to interpretation.

What is clear is that the 79-year-old has no intention of letting this particular controversy die quietly.

Featured image credit: Truth Social