Trump Says Jesus Picture He Posted Was Supposed to Be Him as a Doctor

President Donald Trump got some heat for posting -- and ultimately deleting -- an A.I.-generated pic of himself as Jesus ... but he says that wasn't his intention.

In a news conference Monday, Donald said ... "I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor." Trump claims he thought the image was of him as a Red Cross doc because there "was a Red Cross worker" in the photo.

While it's true there is a doctor in the pic ... the A.I. rendering of Trump shows himself wearing a white tunic and a red shawl -- which is what Jesus is commonly depicted wearing.

DT declared it was "fake news" that he meant to depict himself as JC, asking ... "How did they come up with that?"

Well -- aside from the uncanny Jesus getup -- the pic shows Trump holding a glowing light in one hand, while putting the other hand on a patient's head ... seemingly implying he's healing the man just by touching his face. Lots of online commenters -- even his own supporters -- felt the same.