Trump Signed Someone Else’s Photo for Money, Doubted the Buyer Could Pay, Then Said One Line That Changed the Room

Donald Trump turned a New Year’s Eve moment into a strange display of ego and spectacle, redirecting attention away from the moment onto himself.

Trump served as auctioneer for the sale of a freshly painted image depicting what some say is the face of Jesus by artist Vanessa Horabuena. Horabuena painted the portrrait onstage in real time.

‘What’s Wrong with His Neck?’: Trump’s Sweet Family Photo Backfired After Fans Zoomed In on a Strange Side Profile Detail

Trump set the tone immediately by opening the bidding at $1 million. Rather than allowing the process to unfold quietly, he narrated each bid as live entertainment, repeatedly drawing attention to the wealth in the room and the money leaving bidders’ wallets.

As the price climbed, Trump praised one participant as “the biggest guy on Wall Street,” then shifted his focus to a woman who continued driving the bid higher.

When she seemed to say she wanted a larger number, the president joked with the audience that her husband looked at her and said, “What the hell is that all about?” The line drew laughter in the room.

Trump leaned fully into the performance, framing the auction as one of the night’s highlights. He described the bidding as better entertainment than the musicians scheduled to perform and praised the artist for having “created a work of art.” At the same time, he continued pointing out bidders in the crowd and speculating aloud about who they were and how much money they had.

As the bidding approached its final stretch, Trump delivered the comment that sparked the strongest backlash online. Addressing the room, he cautioned the woman buying the painting, “Don’t do it if it’s too much. Don’t do it if we have to see the Chapter filing tomorrow morning, ladies and gentlemen,” a remark widely interpreted as a backhanded jab aimed at the woman spending millions.

The painting ultimately sold for $2.75 million, but when video of the auction surfaced on Threads, attention quickly shifted from the price tag to the image itself — a blue-eyed, white depiction of Jesus — and Trump’s tone throughout the exchange.

“So who is the blue-eyed white guy in the picture?” one commenter asked.

Another wrote, “Jesus did not have blue eyes and straight hair, and he was not white. So let’s get the biblical description of Jesus correct.”

A third added, “Jesus was not a white man with blue eyes. And if you think Trump is a Christian, you’ve never actually read a Bible. Be serious.”

The backlash revived a familiar cultural debate that predates Trump’s presidency. In 2013, Megyn Kelly declared on Fox News that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white, arguing that discomfort did not justify changing tradition and insisting, “Jesus was a white man, too.”

Historians and scholars have long disputed that framing. Jesus was born to a Jewish family in what is now Israel, and many experts argue he would have resembled people of Middle Eastern descent. University of South Carolina scholars Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey have written that imagery of Christ as white spread beyond Europe via colonization and was used to legitimize European imperial power while rationalizing the oppression and abuse of indigenous peoples and African-Americans.

As the debate over the painting intensified, Trump himself became the next target. Viewers zoomed in on his appearance during the auction, criticizing his tuxedo, tailoring, and shoes.

One commenter wrote, “The President of the United States in an off- the- rack tux, sleeves too short, pants hemmed at home, cummerbund AND clip on bowtie BOTH f—king UPSIDE-DOWN, cankles busting out of his equally ill- fitting shoes, hanger marks on his pants, shoulder pads hanging off.”

Adding, “Gyat damn… can he at least try not to look like a total slob who bought a used tuxedo at the Salvation Army?!?! They’ve got better suits and tailoring at the Men’s Warehouse FFS.”

Another joked, “I’ve never seen shoes work harder than this.”

Trump has been called sloppy before, particularly in moments meant to project wealth and authority that instead invite closer inspection. Allies like Stephen Miller have praised him as a style icon, but public reaction often tells a different story.

In the end, the auction captured something familiar. Not only the POTUS auctioning or selling off religious symbols to his MAGA fan base, but also him partying with the rich and elite, even as so many in America are starving.

What was meant to be a high-dollar moment of spectacle instead became a reminder of Trump’s defining instinct: turning even a painting of Jesus into a performance — complete with money jokes, class commentary, and controversy baked directly into the sale.