The US president's feud with the first American pope appears to have led Donald Trump to declare himself Jesus Christ in an AI-generated image on Sunday, which drew so much backlash that he deleted it by Monday.

"I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross," Trump later told reporters at the White House.

"It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better," he said.

But the image is unmistakable.

Trump is shown in a robe, with glowing hands and his palm hovering above the forehead of a man shown lying in a bed with his eyes closed.