The two bronze-colored figures appeared mysteriously on Tuesday, rising a dozen feet tall on the National Mall: One, President Trump, the other, the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Best Friends Forever,” the title read on a plaque nestled below the two figures that held hands, frolicking before the U.S. Capitol.
By Wednesday morning, the statue had been removed by the United States Park Police. Its provenance was unknown, its creators anonymous. But its brief dalliance on the National Mall, hardly a mile from the White House, took aim at a lingering albatross for Mr. Trump: his friendship with Mr. Epstein.
The brief installation was the latest in a series of satirical statues that have appeared in Washington since October 2024.
A plaque at the statue’s base read: “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein,” photos of the figures showed. Etched separately were several quotes from a sexually-explicit note that Mr. Trump is said to have written to Mr. Epstein on his 50th birthday.
The United States Park Police said in a statement that it and the National Park Service had removed the statue early Wednesday morning because it was not in compliance with a permit.
Mr. Trump has sought to downplay his connection to Mr. Epstein, with whom he was friendly for around 15 years. The relationship has come under increased scrutiny after Mr. Trump’s Justice Department withheld some of its files related to Mr. Epstein’s yearslong sex-trafficking ring from public disclosure. Attorney General Pam Bondi is said to have told Mr. Trump that his name appeared in some of the documents.
This month, the House Oversight Committee released a drawing by Mr. Trump that had been presented to Mr. Epstein on his 50th birthday. The sexually suggestive drawing included what appeared to be Mr. Trump’s signature and said in part, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
In a statement, the White House said: “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.”
While the provenance of the statue remains unknown, it resembles several other recent protest art installations that have temporarily appeared on the National Mall in opposition to Mr. Trump.
In June, a statue titled “Dictator Approved” depicted a golden thumb crushing the Statue of Liberty. Last October, a bronze artwork appeared showing a pile of feces on a desk carrying a nameplate of Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat and former House speaker, a satirical reference to damage done by Trump supporters who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Campbell Robertson contributed reporting.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
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