Donald Trump's Golden Statue: Critics' Biblical Comparisons Explained

A 22-foot golden statue of President Donald Trump is riling some observers who claim the “golden calf” clearly represents idol worship expressly forbidden in the Ten Commandments, religious scholars told Newsweek.

The bronze effigy covered in gold leaf, dubbed “Don Colossus,” depicts Trump, 79, with a raised fist similar to the gesture he made following the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Pastor Mark Burns, an evangelical minister and spiritual adviser to the president, led last week’s unveiling ceremony at Trump National Doral Miami and insisted the likeness represented “gratitude, honor and remembrance” rather than deification.

“Let me say this plainly: this is not a golden calf,” Burns later wrote on X. “We worship the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. This statue is not about worship. It is about honor. It is a celebration of life and a powerful symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, courage, and the will to keep fighting for America.”

Burns said the monument also signals the “hand of God over President Trump’s life” while referring to the three prior foiled assassination attempts. But many observers, including prominent religious figures, quickly likened Trump to the golden calf described in the Old Testament’s Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites crafted an idol to worship while they awaited Moses’ return from Mount Sinai.

“Christian idolatry looks like thinking it is a Godly use of resources to build a 22-foot-tall gold statue in honor of a billionaire while thinking it is absolutely wasteful to allow some of our tax dollars go to feed hungry kids in our public schools, help immigrant families, support the poor, or take care of our planet,” Reverend Benjamin Cremer wrote on X Tuesday.

A day earlier, Cremer dismissed Burns’ repeated denial that Trump’s statue didn’t equate to idolization in a post featuring a photo of last week’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“Evangelical Christian leaders literally gathering around a gold statue of the president and celebrating it, all while raging against any accusation of idolatry,” Cremer posted Friday on X. “This is what idol worship looks like.”

Marshall Cunningham, who teaches the Bible at the University of Chicago, suggested the widespread criticism should be viewed within the larger context of some of Trump’s recent actions, including the posting of an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure last month and criticism of Pope Leo XIV, whom he has accused of being “weak on crime” and “terrible” for foreign policy.

“If the pastor’s first instinct is to say, ‘This is not what it explicitly looks like,’ we are right to question whether or not that’s actually true,” Cunningham told Newsweek on Tuesday. “The golden calf comparison is interesting.”

Cunningham, an assistant instructional professor of the Bible and ancient Near East, said Exodus details how the Israelites fashioned a golden calf to worship while they waited 40 days and nights for Moses to lead them out of the desert.

“The first thing they do, of course, is build this molten image, they build this calf using all of their gold,” Cunningham said. “And Moses’ brother, Aaron, goes along with it because they’re nervous and they’re impatient. But they’ve forgotten one of the first rules given to them now that they’ve been in the desert.”

Cunningham said he found the “golden calf” comparison apt, especially given Trump’s apparent fixation on legacy.

“It is a representation of something that can be worshipped, aside from the God who expresses, says don’t build things to worship aside from me,” Cunningham said. “It is a point of focus for worship, potentially or at least admiration. And this is what’s behind the prohibition of building statues in Exodus 20-you could confuse the statue for the actual God.”

Some critics of Trump’s effigy have also referenced the “narcissistic King Nebuchadnezzar,” who ordered a gold statue of himself to be built as ruler of Babylonia between 605 and 562 BC.

“Here’s this big pretty thing that I have the resources to build, come see how cool it is and how awesome I am to be able to build it,” Cunningham said. “If you were looking for a biblical comparison, that’s a productive one.”

Cunningham said Trump’s prior representation as Jesus and the immediate pushback he received, especially from conservative critics, adds another layer to the controversial statue.

“One might be able to give him the benefit of the doubt if this were a one-off,” Cunningham said. “But perhaps as part of a trend, it’s easier to start critiquing this kind of representation of self. I think there are probably people who would’ve been happy to dismiss this more easily if it were not for these moments in his past that would suggest a kind of effort at deification.”

Shane Claiborne, an author and Christian activist, has urged his 112,200 followers on X to “follow Jesus” rather than Trump, referencing both Nebuchadnezzar and the golden calf in Exodus 32. He insisted the massive golden statue plainly represents modern idolatry.

“When we think of idols, some of us think of an outdated word or ancient concept, but this is the definition of it,” Clairborne told Newsweek. “It’s creating an image in the likeness of ourselves and attributing this kind of messianic hope to this person who is not God.”

The “fusion of faith and Trumpism” currently unfolding in some parts of the country is “really, really dangerous,” Claiborne said.

“It’s dangerous for democracy, but it’s also dangerous for the reputation of our authentic Christian faith,” he said. “It’s very, very concerning. At first glance you want to laugh, but as it settles in, you kind of want to cry because of how toxic this has become.”

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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 10:21 AM.