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’s resolution was a wish for “peace on Earth”.

The portrait of Jesus had been painted onstage by artist Vanessa Horabuena who, the president said, was “one of the greatest artists anywhere in the world”.

Trump’s flow of superlatives continued as Horabuena tackled the large black canvas with a paintbrush as a band launched into a slow rendition of Hallelujah.

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’s forthcoming Melania documentary; House Republican Tom Emmer; and Jeanine Pirro, attorney general for the District of Columbia.