Donald Trump did not stumble onto the viral AI image of himself as Jesus Christ on his own. According to new reporting, it was his Federal Housing Finance Agency director, Bill Pulte, who brought the meme to the president’s attention before Trump posted it to Truth Social and set off a firestorm.
Axios first reported the connection Wednesday night, citing two advisers who spoke with Trump about the image. Both said Pulte showed it to the president while the pair were spending time together in South Florida over the weekend. It was unclear whether Pulte sent it to Trump directly or simply pulled it up on his phone. “Everyone thought it was a joke,” one adviser told the outlet.
A third adviser, one who is close to Pulte, pushed back on that account and told Axios that Pulte did not hand the meme to Trump. Neither Pulte nor the White House responded to requests for comment from The Daily Beast.
What Trump posted and why it blew up
Trump uploaded the image to Truth Social late Sunday night. It showed him dressed in a white robe with a golden, glowing hand pressed to the forehead of a man lying in a hospital bed. The scene was surrounded by American imagery including bald eagles, soldiers, the Statue of Liberty, and fighter jets.
The backlash was immediate and came from both sides of the aisle. Even within Trump’s own base, the reaction was sharp. Nineteen-year-old MAGA influencer Brilyn Hollyhand called the photo “gross blasphemy.”
As we previously reported, Trump deleted the post Monday and tried to walk back its meaning, telling reporters, “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.” He insisted the image had to do with the Red Cross and blamed the media for the Jesus interpretation.
The post also landed at a charged moment for faith-based politics. It went live on Easter Sunday for Eastern Orthodox Christians, just 40 minutes after Trump had attacked Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, calling him “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” The timing added fuel to a controversy that was already spiraling.
Two days later, Trump posted another AI image, this time showing himself standing alongside Jesus. He captioned it: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!”
Who is Bill Pulte and why does he keep making headlines
Pulte, 37, is the grandson of the founder of one of the country’s largest homebuilding companies. He has been a fixture in Trump’s inner circle throughout the second term, both at the White House and as a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.
His tenure as FHFA director has been defined less by housing policy and more by internal chaos. Pulte has been a driving force behind Trump’s escalating hostility toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, pushing Congress to investigate Powell for what he calls “political bias” and “deceptive Senate testimony.” He was also the architect of the administration’s short-lived 50-year mortgage proposal, an idea Trump quietly buried after it drew widespread mockery and scrutiny.
His history inside Trumpworld is equally turbulent. At a MAGA dinner event last September, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly confronted Pulte after believing he had been badmouthing him to the president. According to Politico, Bessent threatened to punch Pulte “in the f—ing face” and invited him outside. The Financial Times previously described Pulte as an “agent of chaos” within the administration.
His combative streak reportedly extends to family matters as well. The AP noted that, before joining the Trump administration, Pulte had publicly feuded with relatives over his late grandfather’s estate, calling a step-aunt a “fat slob” and accusing his grandfather’s widow of insider trading in court filings.
The Jesus meme controversy is just the latest chapter in a presidency full of them. Trump, who has previously threatened Iran’s naval forces while tensions in the region remain high, now faces new questions about who in his orbit has his ear, and what they’re whispering.
