The Roman diocese, led by Pope Leo XIV, has ordered a church to alter an angel's face painted on a fresco that bears a close resemblance to one of President Donald Trump's closest European allies.

An Italian newspaper reported over the weekend that a newly restored fresco at Rome's Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina included an angel whose updated face appeared to resemble Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, although artist Bruno Valentinetti denied that was his intention and the parish priest defended the work, reported The Daily Beast.

“It doesn’t mean we’re Meloni supporters,” parish priest Daniele Micheletti told La Repubblica on Saturday. “Maybe we are Meloni supporters, but we don’t say so. The face of King Umberto II is also there, does that mean we’re monarchists?”

Technicians from the Roman diocese, which is headed by the America-born pope, told the priest the painting needed to be altered to remove Meloni's likeness, and Cardinal Vicar Baldassare Reina, a close ally of Leo's, issued a "firm" statement.

“Images of sacred art and the Christian tradition can be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life," the cardinal vicar said.

Micheletti agreed to have the 13th-century basilica's fresco, which Valentinetti himself had originally painted in 2000, modified after speaking to diocese officials.

Pope Leo has spoken out against Trump's immigration policies and expansionist threats and shared some of those disagreements directly with Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, during a face-to-face meeting in May.

Trump has sued the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion.

In the suit, filed in Miami federal court on Thursday, Trump alleges that the IRS was responsible for the leak of some of Trump’s tax documents to press in September 2020. The leak occurred by an IRS contractor.

The leaked tax documents revealed that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he first won the presidency, and paid no taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years.

The lawsuit claims that the leak caused Trump and his family “reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump.”

Oh please.

Trump has been unique among presidential candidates and presidents in refusing to release his tax documents to the public.

He’s also been unique among presidents in filing lawsuits against the government — his government, which is supposed to be our government.

He’s also been unique among presidents in turning the Justice Department into his own private law firm — at least unique since 1975, when Gerald Ford rescued the department from the clutches of Richard Nixon.

So how, exactly, is this $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS going to work? Who will represent the government — that is, you and I and every other taxpayer that would, in effect, have to shell out $10 billion if he wins?

How can the Justice Department represent us when Trump has directed the department to do whatever he wants it to do? If there are settlement negotiations with him, who’s going to negotiate the settlement with him? Who’s going to sign the final agreement with him?

This takes the “art of the deal” into a surreal new dimension. Trump will be making a deal with himself.

[Scene: The Oval Office. President Trump is sitting behind the Resolute Desk. In front of him is Donald Trump, as himself.]

Trump as president: “So, Mr. Trump, as to this lawsuit, what do you REALLY want?”

Trump as himself: “I told you: $10 billion.”

Trump as president: “Will all due respect, Mr. Trump, that’s ludicrous.”

Trump as himself: “It’s NOT ludicrous! Your IRS illegally released my tax returns!”

Trump as president: “It’s not my IRS.”

Trump as himself: “Then whose IRS is it?”

Trump as president: “Yours! You’re a citizen of the United States! The IRS works for you!

Trump as himself: “Bulls--! You’re president! The IRS works for YOU!”

Trump as president [trying to reason with Trump as himself]: “Look, there’s no way I can justify to the American people paying you $10 billion.”

Trump as himself: “You have no choice.”

Trump as president: “Of course I have a choice. I can say ‘No.” In fact, I will say ‘No.’ [He clears his throat] … NO!”

Trump as himself: “NOBODY says ‘NO’ to me. I’m Donald Trump!”

Trump as president: “Well, I’m the f---ing president of the United States!”

Trump as himself: “Okay, Mr. F---ing President Trump. I’ll take this all the way to the Supreme Court!”

Trump as president [laughing]: “Try it! They’ll decide the case for ME! I own six of them!”

Trump as himself: “NO, they’ll decide the case for ME! I appointed three of them and the rest OWE me!”

Trump as president: “You’re out of your mind!”

Trump as himself: “You’re a moron!”

Trump as president [rising out of his chair and pointing to the door]: “Get the hell out of my office!”

Trump as himself: “NO! YOU get the hell out of MY office!”

[They lunge at each other. It becomes the scene from the movie “Fight Club” where Edward Norton beats himself up until he finally realizes that his nemesis is a figment of his own imagination, whereupon he stops fighting and shoots himself.]

[The End]

• Robert Reich is an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/. His new memoir, Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org

President Donald Trump signed off on his spy chief Tulsi Gabbard running an investigation into his long-debunked 2020 election fraud claims that's running parallel to an official FBI probe, according to a report.

The director of national intelligence joined an FBI raid last week on an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, and looped in the president on a call with the agents at the scene. Three administration officials told The Guardian that Gabbard is conducting another investigation that's separate from the Department of Justice's criminal probe.

“She’s doing her own thing,” one of the officials said.

Gabbard's review was authorized on the basis that her office is assessing election integrity and possible foreign interference, and she has been briefing Trump and senior White House advisers every few weeks, the report said.

The president sent her to Georgia himself on Jan. 28 to observe FBI agents execute a search warrant.

That search was led by FBI deputy co-director Andrew Bailey, who was also sent there by Trump, and the search warrant indicated that agents were looking for evidence that election records were not properly preserved or that false ballots or voter registrations had been procured.

The office of the director of national intelligence review was first led by the Director’s Initiatives Group, or DIG, which Gabbard had set up within her agency to examine possible vulnerabilities with voting machines used in the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter told The Guardian.

However, that group was disbanded late last year after it falsely identified a suspect in the Jan. 6 pipe bombs placed at the Democratic and Republican party headquarters in Washington, D.C., that source said.

Gabbard continued that probe herself, but it's not clear exactly what her office is looking for, and officials said ODNI isn't expected to get direct access to evidence from the criminal investigation.