A 12-foot statue showing Donald Trump holding hands with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been erected on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The artwork appeared across from the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday and will remain on display until Sunday evening, as per a National Park Service permit.
“We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend’ Jeffrey Epstein,” a plaque at the base of the statue, painted to look like marble, reads.
Highlights
- A 12-foot statue of Donald Trump holding hands with Jeffrey Epstein was placed on the National Mall.
- The statue, by The Secret Handshake Project, aims to ironically celebrate 'friendship' during Friendship Month.
- Plaques on the statue quote a controversial birthday message allegedly from Trump to Epstein, which Trump denies writing.
A statue portraying Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein appeared on Tuesday
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The statue, spray-painted bronze, depicts Trump and Epstein looking at each other and appearing jovial as they hold hands and balance on one foot.
There are two other plaques affixed to the bottom of the statue, with both quoting from Trump’s alleged note to Epstein for his 50th birthday book.
Trump has denied writing a birthday message to Epstein and is suing the Wall Street Journal over its report alleging that he did.
A message signed with the name Donald Trump does appear in Epstein’s birthday book.
Image credits: Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images
One plaque quotes part of that message, which reads: “Yes there is. But I won’t tell you what it is. We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
“A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The statue was reportedly created and put on display by a group called The Secret Handshake Project, which said the piece was in celebration of Friendship Month.
“We're a very small group of citizens who are using art, irony, and humor to express social commentary and spark political conversation in public spaces,” the group said in a statement to USA Today.
Image credits: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
A representative for the artists told ARTnews that the piece was symbolic because September is unofficially known as the month to celebrate friendship.
“We felt that Trump had quite a few friends throughout his life,” he said.
“One of his friends was Jeffrey Epstein, so we wanted to celebrate that with a statue of what that friendship might feel like.”
The anonymous rep added: “There’s a lot of uproar on the left and the right about releasing the Epstein files. We have nothing to do with that. The information about their bond that’s public says a lot.”
Trump continues to face backlash over the Epstein files
Image credits: Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
This is the third time in recent months that an anti-Trump installation has appeared in the capital.
The Secret Handshake Project claims it was behind other artwork, including the ‘Dictator Approved’ piece, which shows a thumbs-up crushing the Statue of Liberty.
It said it was also behind a puzzling golden TV statue placed on the National Mall in June, showing a continuous loop of Trump dancing.
In response to the latest installation, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, “Liberals are free to waste their money however they see fit — but it's not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep.”
“Democrats, the media, and the organization that's wasting their money on this statue knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them while President Trump was calling for transparency, and is now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents.”
The Trump administration has been struggling to contain the MAGA fallout over Epstein, an issue that will not go away for the president.
Earlier this year, the DOJ and FBI concluded Epstein had no client list and died by suicide in jail in 2019, and said they would not be releasing further documents.
The announcement sparked uproar among Trump’s MAGA supporters, who had widely expected a trove of documents to reveal Epstein’s powerful connections.
But most of the documents released to the public contained information that was already in the public domain.
There is currently a bipartisan effort to force the release of the Epstein files, led by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.
The issue even followed Trump to the UK during his state visit last week, when a group of activists were arrested for projecting an image of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle.