Trump to give televised Bible reading amid feud with Pope Leo and 'holy war' claim

Trump to give televised Bible reading amid feud with Pope Leo and 'holy war' claimDonald Trump is set to give a televised Bible reading on Tuesday - 10 days after posting an AI-generated image of himself appearing as a Jesus-like figure and calling Pope Leo XIV 'WEAK on Crime'NewsEliana Nunes News Reporter18:25, 21 Apr 2026Updated 18:35, 21 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesUS President Donald Trump is expected to give a televised Bible reading on Tuesday (file)(Image: AP)Donald Trump is set to give a televised Bible reading amid his rift with Pope Leo XIV, a vocal critic of the US and Israeli war on Iran.‌The US president will read from the Book of Two Chronicles at 6pm EST (11pm BST) on Tuesday, as part of 'America Reads the Bible', a week-long initiative held in tandem with the celebration of America's 250th anniversary. The event serves as a "spiritual celebration of our nation’s founding ideals and a call to rediscover the truth that still anchors us today", according to the 'America Reads the Bible' website.‌It comes as tensions have escalated between Trump and Pope Leo, with Republican lawmaker Senator John Kennedy condemning what he called the president's "holy war" against the Pope.‌Trump sparked backlash across the US political spectrum, including his own supporters, when he posted - and later deleted - an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure appearing to heal a sick man in a hospital bed.View 3 ImagesDonald Trump posted an image depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure on April 12(Image: @realDonaldTrump)Less than an hour before posting the image on April 12, Trump unleashed a tirade against the Pope on Truth Social, describing him as "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy".‌He continued: "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, a Country that was se...