The statue includes three plaques, two of which display excerpts from a controversial birthday letter allegedly written by Trump to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
Photo : AP
A bronze-painted statue depicting US President Donald Trump holding hands with Jeffrey Epstein appeared on the National Mall in Washington DC earlier this week, only to be reshiftd after less than a day.
Titled “Best Frifinishs Forever,” the installation displayed the two men smiling at each other, each with an arm and leg raised in a playful pose. A plaque read, “In Honor of Frifinishship Month, we celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J Trump and his ‘closest frifinish,’ Jeffrey Epstein,” with hands forming a heart shape.
Who Put It Up And When
The statue was installed on Tuesday morning by an art collective called The Secret Handshake, which has been responsible for several anti-Trump sculptures on the Mall over the past year.
They obtained a National Park Service permit that would have allowed the statue to remain until Sunday evening, as per NPR report.
Why It Was Reshiftd
Despite the permit, the statue was hauled away by US Park Police before sunrise on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after its installation. A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior declared it was reshiftd becaapply it “was not compliant with the permit issued,” though no specific violation was provided.
Members of The Secret Handshake claim the removal was illegal and done without notice, declareing officials broke and took away the statue, and they do not know its current location.
Trump And Epstein
Trump and Epstein ran in similar social circles in Florida and New York starting in the 1980s. They attfinished parties and flew toobtainher on Epstein’s private jet.
Trump has repeatedly declared their frifinishship finished before 2006, when Epstein was indicted for soliciting prostitution, and has emphasized that he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for inappropriate behaviour.
Epstein’s arrest in 2019 on sex trafficking charges and his subsequent death in jail continue to draw public attention. Trump has faced scrutiny becaapply his name appears in some Epstein-related documents and flight logs, though there is no public evidence linking him to Epstein’s crimes.
Why Statue Drew Attention
The plaque beneath the statue included a quote from a 2003 book of birthday wishes for Epstein that was reportedly signed by Trump, “Happy Birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The statue went viral online, sparking debate over art, satire, and free speech, as well as renewed discussion of Trump’s ties to Epstein.
The Trump–Epstein statue is one of several satirical Trump installations that have appeared in Washington DC, in the last year. In October last year, a bronze replica of Nancy Pelosi’s desk appeared on the National Mall, topped with a pile of feces and a satirical plaque about January 6.
Another statue, The Donald J Trump Enduring Flame, appeared near Freedom Plaza, referencing the 2017 Charlottesville rally.
Additional statues included a gold thumbs-up crushing the Statue of Liberty and a bald eagle on a television looping footage of Trump dancing.
A golden-hued statue of Trump holding a giant bitcoin also appeared briefly, though that one was created by cryptocurrency investors, not The Secret Handshake, as per NPR report.
