On the 12th of April in the year of some peoples' Lord 2026, Donald Trump, then the duly elected President of the United States posted this AI-generated image of himself.
Despite his denials, this is clearly Trump as Jesus Christ, a popular deity you might have heard of. There are lots of movies about him, if you're not interested in the books.
You might be a little shocked at this image, but Donald Trump is actually following a very rich tradition of the extremely rich depicting themselves as gods or god-adjacents. He is following the ancient Worthington's Law, which states:
It's not a real metaphysical law, but rather a concept from a Gen X sketch show, but the rule seems to be accurate when applied to the ultra-wealthy. And if you're really wealthy, you can join the pantheon of the gods!
This is Albrecht of Brandenburg, who might look a little familiar when compared to the President. Look at those lips!
He was the Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg in the early 1500s. He held these archbishoprics at the age of 20, which means that either he was an incredibly deep and theologically wise fellow at a tender age, or that he perhaps did not earn his position legitimately.
Spoiler: it's the latter. Albrecht borrowed the equivalent of $19 million in today's dollars to buy himself his second archbishopric. It doesn't sound like much, but at the time, it was an absolutely absurd amount of money. Albrecht was already from the embarrassingly wealthy Hohenzollern family which has several castles throughout Germany, and buying positions was something of a family business. He and his brother Joachim bribed themselves into positions of high political and moral authority, so naturally, they had to ensure they were seen as worthy.
Once you have so much money and power, it starts to go to your head, and it's not enough to be rich and powerful: you have to become sanctified, otherwise, how are you worth all that money and power? Art can be a tool of divine sanction in politics, as we can see below.
This is Albrecht hanging out with Jesus. It bears noting that while Jesus is having a pretty bad time, Albrecht looks very comfortable and warm in his flowing ecclesiastical robe. And this is no pieta -- Albrecht is looking at Christ's knees and doesn't appear to be too bothered.
This is Albrecht as Saint Jerome, also known as the author of the Vulgate Bible -- the Catholic Bible since the 4th century CE. The suggestion is clear: "I am as much an authority on the Bible as the person who wrote it."
This is a fun one. Albrecht as Saint Martin, known for his poverty, piety, and care for the poor. Being bedecked in gold, pearls, and jewels is a bit of an odd choice, the greedy heart wants what the greedy heart wants.
It's no great revelation to say that history repeats itself, but when it does so explicitly and so absurdly, it's hard not to draw parallels. Albrecht strongly inspired a character in our upcoming game, Better Than Us (wishlist it!). You can see him here!
We're taking a deep dive into the lives of the ultra-rich in Better Than Us, and how they choose to depict themselves is an integral part of the story.
The point is, though: politicians depicting themselves as deities is nothing new. Louis XIV identified directly with Apollo. Roman emperors and Egyptian kings were deified through office. Even in secular portraiture, democratic leaders like George Washington are painted in the same form as Greek and Christian celestial hosts. Donald Trump is merely following in a time-honored tradition of self-deification, only now, artists are not paid to create this kind of propaganda since AI will do the work.
However old the method is, though, it is no more legitimate now than it was in the ancient world. When a mortal depicts themselves as a deity, you can bet that what they really are is a dumbass.
Which is why we're making a game about stealing from them.
(Art courtesy of the Cranach Digital Archive)
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