A gold-colored statue inspired by the “Titanic” pose has appeared on the National Mall — but instead of portraying Jack supporting Rose from behind as she pretends to fly, it depicts President Trump and the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A plaque at the statue’s base read: “The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. This monument honors the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties and secret nude sketches.”
The statue, which appeared Tuesday and shows Mr. Trump gazing at Mr. Epstein as he held his outstretched arms, is the latest in a series of satirical statues that have appeared in Washington since October 2024, just before the presidential election. Many of the installations, including this one influenced by the movie “Titanic” and Mr. Trump’s friendship with Epstein, were created by an anonymous group of artists called The Secret Handshake.
An artist from The Secret Handshake told The New York Times that the group began brainstorming ways they could depict Mr. Trump as a king, and landed on perhaps the most memorable line in the film, when Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) shouts off the ship’s bow, “I’m the king of the world!”
Add the iconic pose, which Jack replicated later in the movie with Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), and the statue, titled “The King of the World,” was a cheeky way of drawing attention to the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, the artist said.
The statue is permitted to be on the National Mall, which is overseen by the National Park Service, through Friday night, the artist said.
In an email to The New York Times, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, called the artists “wealthy Democrat donors” who should create statues of Democratic lawmakers who solicited money and meetings from Mr. Epstein after he was convicted of sex crimes.
Dynamic SRG, a New York City fund-raising firm, repeatedly asked Mr. Epstein to make contributions to the campaigns of some of New York’s top Democratic politicians from 2012 to 2014. The firm also offered Mr. Epstein access to exclusive gatherings in exchange for donations. A Times review of campaign finance records found no evidence of donations from Mr. Epstein to any prominent New York candidate during that span.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection to Mr. Epstein, and has long downplayed his relationship with him, which began in the late 1980s. They went to many of the same parties in New York and Florida, their bond forged, in part, over their pursuit of women.
The reference on the statue’s plaque to “secret nude sketches” was an acknowledgment of the sexually suggestive drawing containing what appeared to be Mr. Trump’s signature. First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the drawing was described as the outline of a naked woman with Mr. Trump’s signature below her waist, and was included in a book for Mr. Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
The drawing and the note that accompanied it were subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee and released in September as Democrats renewed calls for the Trump administration to release all of its files related to its investigation of Mr. Epstein.
The Department of Justice released an enormous tranche of files in January after Mr. Trump capitulated against mounting pressure, and the documents are sprinkled with references to the president, who had been a close friend of Mr. Epstein’s until the early 2000s.
The Secret Handshake erected a different statue of Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein on the National Mall in late September. Titled “Best Friends Forever,” the bronze-colored statue depicted the two men holding hands and kicking up their legs in high spirits.
The United States Park Police removed the statue the day after it appeared, because, the agency said, it was not in compliance with a permit. The statue was returned to the National Mall a week later.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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