Donald Trump welcomed 2026 with a glitzy bash at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach where he auctioned off a freshly painted portrait of Jesus Christ for $2.75m and said his new year\u2019s resolution was a wish for \u201cpeace on Earth\u201d.<\/p>\n
The portrait of Jesus had been painted onstage by artist Vanessa Horabuena who, the president said<\/a>, was \u201cone of the greatest artists anywhere in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, she\u2019s one of the greatest. In fact, she did something last night that was incredible. She can paint, slowly, a beautiful portrait for the White House, or she can paint the most incredible painting in literally 10 minutes,\u201d he added on video of the event broadcast on conservative channel Newsmax.<\/a><\/p>\n Trump\u2019s flow of superlatives continued as Horabuena tackled the large black canvas with a paintbrush as a band launched into a slow rendition of Hallelujah.<\/p>\n \u201cDraw something really special. I don\u2019t know what it is, but draw something really special,\u201d he said, opening the bidding at $100,000. \u201cI don\u2019t know how you do that,\u201d he said to the artist, explaining that half the auction proceeds would go to St Jude\u2019s children\u2019s hospital and half to the local sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n \u201cThese people are loaded with cash, just so you know,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The picture sold for $2.75m to a woman in a top hat. Revellers at the gala included former adviser Rudy Giuliani; the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem; the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife, Sara; the Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani; Brett Ratner, director of Amazon\u2019s forthcoming Melania documentary; House Republican Tom Emmer; and Jeanine Pirro, attorney general for the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s wish for \u201cpeace on Earth\u201d came as reporters asked about a reported CIA-directed strike on a dock in Venezuela.<\/p>\n