An informative and provocative article in The Guardian by Nesrine Malik, published on April 20, 2026, stated with prophetic power:
Trump’s presidency is what evil looks like: absurd, frightening, and cruel.
Pondering that description, I am reminded of a few verses from the Book of Proverbs 6:16-19, NRSVUE:
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
If the AI-generated image of Trump being embraced by Jesus suggests anything, I believe it is Jesus telling Trump to repent of the evil he is doing. Contrary to the evangelical adoration of Trump, I think God abhors the Trump administration because of its arrogance, dishonesty, corruption, wicked treatment of people here at home and around the world, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor, the president’s offensive rhetoric, and its bloody hands. I agree that the DJT presidency is evil. His abuses are so many. Like the mocking inflatable balloon we see at rallies and protests, he hovers over a circus of death, retribution, chaos and corruption, and only he and his allies are blind to the abuses of his immigration policy, or the bodies being pulled from the rubble in Gaza and the 175 dead school children exposed around their bombed out playground in Iran or the over 1 million people in southern Lebanon expelled en masse because of Isreal’s indiscriminate destruction of their homes. His immoral war in the Middle East is marked by an incompetence of unprecedented proportions, and he tries to justify it by exhibiting a disgusting messianic complex, a bullying tactic that is both blasphemous and deeply immoral. That complex has even fueled a ridiculous, one-sided feud with Pope Leo XIV, a feud that has driven down his poll numbers even further. His rhetoric, his criticisms of the Pope, with the farcical aid of his political face-planting Vice President, J.D. Vance, have turned religious folk, Catholics, and a majority of independents against him. We are witnessing a much deserved, huge backlash.
Peggy Noonan is an opinion columnist at The Wall Street Journal, where her column, "Declarations," has run since 2000. In 2001, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, and throughout her career, she has written important speeches for presidents and commentaries for the people. Recently, she wrote a timely, persuasive piece on April 18, 2026, titled Trump Has Met His Match in Pope Leo XIV. In the article, she asks:
What is going on with this administration and its use and abuse of Christianity? Shouldn’t the great churches of America be thinking about this, and at this point talking about it publicly, thoughtfully?
Peggy, we should and we are!
Noonan continues her article, writing:
A reader sent a note this week saying he’d been following the president’s attack on the pope and his follow-up posting of the artificial-intelligence image depicting him as Christ healing the sick, and it sent him to the Sermon on the Mount. Consider what Jesus said, the reader urged, and the things Trump says. I did.
Christ: “Blessed are you who are poor.”
Mr. Trump: “Part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get.”
Christ: “Blessed are the meek.”
Mr. Trump: “It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency . . . is the most successful in the history of our nation.” “You know who No. 2 is? George Washington.”
Christ: “Blessed are the merciful.”
Mr. Trump: “I am your retribution.” “Why are we having all these people from s— hole countries come here?”
Christ: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Mr. Trump: “A whole civilization will die tonight.” “He died like a dog.” “He died after running into a dead-end tunnel whimpering and crying and screaming.”
Christ: “Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you.”
Mr. Trump: “I love getting even with people.” “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry.”
Some common subject matter, but rather different approaches! So different that Mr. Trump’s statements seem the photographic negative of the Sermon on the Mount.
The recently converted Catholic, J.D. Vance, hoping to burn the pope with some criticism, stupidly suggested that the pope should be careful when talking about theology and should “stay in his lane.” Indeed, the pope is in his lane when he preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ; when he reminds us that Jesus demands that we be peacemakers, not warmongers; to show compassion and generosity for the stranger, sojourner, and the poor, not round them up like criminals and deport them; to seek justice for those victimized by the powerful and provide hope for the world’s desperate.
Pope Leo XIV was surely in his own lane, or should I say the lane also occupied by Jesus when he said:
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,”
“They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters,”
I loved a section of a conversation among David French, Michelle Goldberg and Michelle Cottle, offered in the New York Times on April 18, 2026. It focused on this very issue and challenged both people of faith and the church to fulfill the calling we experience not just “in our lane” but throughout our lives. Here is a transcript:
It is not the case that popes “stay in their lane,” or however you want to say it. Popes have been talking about war and peace forever. It’s what they do.
This is something that’s been going on for a long time, and a role that the church should play. Going back to Martin Luther King Jr., and I’m paraphrasing this quote, but, in essence, the church is not the master of the state, the church is not the servant of the state, the church is the conscience of the state. And so, it’s not that the church runs the country — or the church serves the country — it’s that it has an entirely separate meaning and purpose and relationship to a country. And that is to provide a moral argument about what a country is. And now, of course, that’s not the sum total job of the church, but in the church-state relations context. So, the pope is doing exactly what popes have done. What popes, in my view, should do. But Trump is stumped by people who do not bend to his bullying and to his will. And so, it was only a matter of time before he was going to do this. I felt this has been inevitable for a while, that there was going to be a direct attack on the pope and that it was not going to faze the pope. The pope was not going to be intimidated by that, because they’re two very different people…
I think that we have too long delayed embracing the moment and declaring the message that we are, in fact, the conscience of the state, not its master or its servant, but its conscience. Too much of this presidency, its rhetoric, its policies, its corruption, its wars, its violence and its inhumane disregard for human life is simply evil. This is an existential moment for us to do exactly what Jesus requires of us and His church, to talk publicly, thoughtfully, faithfully and biblically about the need to repent of our national and personal sin, to turn things around and to get this country thinking clearly about its character, its sense of virtue and especially within the context of the challenges of our time, its purpose, its calling to be peacemakers, the sons and daughters of God, the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
No passage in scripture says it better than one from Paul’s letter to the Romans, the twelfth chapter:
.12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.[a]
.9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.
.14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;[b] do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Indeed, let us not be conformed to this evil of this time in our history but be transformed by the renewing of our minds and hearts so that we may discern anew what is truly the will of God for us, our time and our world community of nations.