The Donald, as the first of his lovely wives loved to call him, was miffed. He loves to play roles with AI imagery portraying him as a king, a footballer, a lion, Superman, the Pope and a lot more — except perhaps God and Donald Duck.But there was never such hullabaloo as the one over the post that, by his telling, depicted him as a healer making people better that critics including some of his ardent MAGA supporters somehow mistook for Jesus Christ!
“Only the fake news could come up with that one, so I just heard about it, and I said, ‘How did they come up with that?’” Trump complained on Truth Social dismissing outcries of blasphemy. “It’s supposed to be me making people better.”“And I do make people better. I make people a lot better,” the peacemaker turned bomber turned healer claimed even as he took down the image of a Jesus-like figure administering an ethereal light to a patient’s head, as translucent figures look down from the heavens.“Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to have anybody be confused,” he wrote only to post another image hours later showing Jesus embracing him.“The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!” Trump wrote admiringly of the new image from X showing him in front of a microphone with Jesus’s arms draped around him and an American flag in the background.Trump then turned his guns at Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, over his criticism of Iran war calling him “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.”“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela,” Trump wrote claiming that he was the reason Leo was chosen as the first U.S.-born pope.Instead of backing off, Leo hit back saying a “delusion of omnipotence” is fuelling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, now in its eighth week.“Enough of the idolatry of self and money!” he said during a prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life.”“Stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” admonished the POTUS taking another potshot at the pontiff escalating the unholy war of words.Saying he has “no fear of the Trump administration,” Leo decried “those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain.”Meanwhile, even as Trump vowed to keep the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports “in full force” after the opening of Strait of Hormuz, NBC suggested Trump was looking for an off-ramp from the war with Iran.One key reason: the upcoming April-end State visit of King Charles III. In fact, Trump, according to NBC, has been talking about the visit as another reason to justify his controversial ballroom whose “overground” construction has been halted by an “out of control Trump Hating Judge” at the instance of “a woman walking her dog.”“Water can go up to 3 to 4 inches over their shoes. It’s not a good feeling,” Trump told reporters a couple of weeks ago citing the potential indignity of having the British monarch step on soggy grass in the South Lawn instead of a marble floor. “King Charles, who’s a great guy, we don’t want him to sit in a pool of water.”Back on terra firma, the great healer dispensed the virtues of diet soda to help prevent cancer, prompting some real doctors to remind the public that Trump’s favorite drink will not do anything to prevent cancer.Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and television personality who now leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, touted the boss’ prescription without demur on Don Jr.’s podcast.“Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass – if poured on grass – so, therefore, it must kill cancer cells inside the body,” Oz told the president’s eldest son.Trump’s erratic behavior and sometimes-profane statements capped by his “a whole civilization will die tonight” threat to wipe Iran off the map “have left many with the impression of a deranged autocrat mad with power,” suggested the New York Times.While the White House claims POTUS is sharp and keeping his opponents on edge, House Democrats introduced legislation that would create a commission to assess whether Trump is unfit to serve and should be removed under the 25th amendment — with little chance of success.Meanwhile, according to a Wall Street Journal fly on the wall account Trump has repeatedly promised his top aides pardons before he leaves office.“T’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval,” Trump was quoted as saying in a recent meeting to laughs. That radius appears to be expanding from within 10 feet last year as the president repeats the line.In one conversation with advisers in the dining room next to the Oval Office last year, Trump said he would host a news conference and announce mass pardons before he left office, according to the Journal.Trump has wielded the unconditional power to pardon offered to the presidency with great abandon, dispensing some 1,600 grants to date in his second term. Many have gone to allies and donors, or those who had hired them, coming after a social pull-aside or a round of golf.It may be all fun and games for Trump, but to the world at large hoping for a reprieve from his quirky rule, it’s no laughing matter.(By arrangement with The American Bazaar, www.americanbazaaronline.com)
