U.S. President Donald Trump watches a match during the UFC 327 event at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, U.S., April 11, 2026.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump ramped up his fight with the Vatican by posting a long diatribe against the Pope, calling him “Weak on Crime” and “Weak on Nuclear Weapons.” He followed this with a post of an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure healing the sick, angering many on the religious right, including a far-right organization known for promoting white, Christian nationalism that may have helped to get Trump elected in the first place.
Posting to X, the Knights Templar International, which claims to be the largest organization of its kind in the world, had some strong words for the president.
“The Knights Templar Order and its ruling Council demand that this offensive and blasphemous image be removed forthwith!” The post went on to explain that while the group had supported Trump in both 2016 and 2024, it is “deeply offended by this and have no other choice but to condemn it wholeheartedly and ask for a public apology to the Christian brethren who have been deeply upset by this depiction. We respectfully remend [SIC] President Trump of the Bible Scripture found in Galatians 6:7 ‘God will not be mocked’.”
This group, which boasts over 200,000 followers on X, is known for wielding Crusades-era Christian iconography in an effort to attack Islam, feminism, Marxism, and other targeted ideologies. Among its key goals is the promotion of “good relations” between what it calls “the three main pillars of the Christian faith — Orthodoxy, Protestantism and Catholicism.”
With its advocacy of white, male, Christian dominance, the organization’s messaging typically aligns with many if not most of the Trump Administration’s messaging. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for example, bears several tattoos that are tied to Knights Templar symbology, such as Iron Crosses, and the phrases “Deus Vult” (“Good wills it”) and “Chi-Rho” (the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ and an early form of Christogram).
Even so, the president’s post seems to have turned these devoted followers against him.
“If YOU are a Christian you should be ashamed sir,” the group replied to one commenter pushing back against its outrage, telling another, “This is a grave insult and will cost him dear.”
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