Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein ‘Friends’ Statues Removed from Mall
The National Park Service has removed a 12-foot statue depicting President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein as “friends.” The two were holding hands.
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- The anonymous group erected statues of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein at the National Mall, which was removed by the National Park Service.
- Organizers said their permission was granted 24-hour notice before revoking.
- The location manager at DC, who worked on major films, said he had never seen this response from the parks department.
Statues of President Donald Trump and President Jeffrey Epstein hold hands. But those behind it said that the National Park Service’s move to overthrow the installation was “unbelievable” and “disappointing.”
Earlier this week, an anonymous group called Secret Handshakes asked “Friendship Month” and announced that they held 12-foot Trump and Epstein’s hands in Prancing’s position. The art installation was intended to encourage conversations about the president’s relationship with sex offenders, the group said. The controversy over Epstein’s criminal case file has split Republicans and shaken the Trump administration for months.
Before dawn on September 24th, NPS representatives deleted the statue and were damaged in the process. The Home Office said only the statue was not compliant with the permit. However, the permission obtained by USA Today states that if the permission is revoked, organizers will receive a 24-hour notice. Organizers told USA Today they had never received any advanced notifications.
“I’ve never had this problem in every year I’ve done this,” said Carol Fresher, DC location manager who has worked on major films such as “Wedding Crusher” and Disney’s “National Treasure” films. Flasher said he was hired to be the location manager for the installation by secret handshakes. She called the day when the statue became “incredible.”
“I’ve been doing this for 40 years,” she said. “The word I use is that I am extremely disappointed.”
Statues of Trump and Epstein, who were defeated by the National Park Service without warning, organizers say
National Park Service permit obtained by USA Today indicates that the statue was supposed to be on display until 8pm on September 28th. However, the secret handshake said that an NPS representative appeared around 5:30am on September 24th, defeating the statue and taking it to the government’s warehouse. The footage shared by the group shows the NP conveying the statue to the people behind the camera, confirming that the statue is too large and that the worker is not compliant before pushing it up.
Flasher also said the statue was bigger than what is outlined in the permit, but she was still smaller than the overall restrictions in the area.
The permit states that it could be revoked “at any time after providing 24-hour written notice to the authorized person indicating the reason for the revocation.”
Flasher said he had not received the notification. The secret handshake organizers, who want to remain anonymous, said it was an example of an attack on free speech.
The organization and Flasher said they tried to revive the permit but were not allowed to revert it. The internal department did not respond to multiple requests for explanations.
Secret handshake placed another statue without any problems
The secret handshake told USA Today that they were a small group that used art and humor to encourage political discourse. The statue is across from the U.S. Capitol and faces the expanse of the lawn of the National Mall leading to the Washington monument. They said the statue took about a month to build.
Secret Handshake has installed anti-Trump installations in the past. The group also constructed works of what is called “dictatorial approval.” This is an 8-foot-high sculpture of a hand crushing the crown of the Statue of Liberty while making a thumb gesture. And then there is the “Gold Television Statue” multimedia installation. Golden Television showed images of a Trump dance, including Epstein.
However, this seemed to have a greater impact, Flasher said he pointed out that CBS had received a “late show with Stephen Colbert.” He placed the statue in the same “winning of free speech” category where Jimmy Kimmel returned to the late-night spot on ABC after a halt over comments about how Trump and Republicans responded to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Colbert went on to joke about the removal of the statue, saying, “Thank you for protecting my almost 24-hour freedom of speech (NPS).”
“This is the fourth statue over the past few months… They may not like everything, but we certainly didn’t get anything back, we had no warning,” Flisher said. “It’s heartbreaking for me and our group. We worked so hard.”
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA Today Network. Contact her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and Tiktok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
