Visitors strolling through Washington, D.C.’s National Mall on September 23, 2025, were met with a striking and controversial sight: a 12-foot-tall statue depicting President Donald Trump holding hands with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The artwork, which appeared seemingly overnight near the Capitol building, instantly became the center of a national debate, reigniting questions about Trump’s past associations and the ongoing fallout from the Epstein scandal.
The statue, with its marble-like base and three prominent plaques, shows Trump and Epstein standing on one leg, smiling at each other, and clasping hands in a gesture of camaraderie. One plaque reads, “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend’ Jeffrey Epstein.” Another, bearing the headline “In Honor of Friendship Month,” is accompanied by a pair of hands forming a heart—an unmistakable jab at the alleged closeness between the two men. As reported by USA Today, the installation was the work of The Secret Handshake Project, an anonymous collective that describes itself as “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 Secret Handshake Project has become known for its provocative public art. Since June, the group has installed two other anti-Trump pieces: the “Dictator Approved” statue, featuring a hand making a thumbs-up gesture while crushing the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and the “Gold TV statue,” a multimedia display with a golden television showing Trump dancing with various figures, including Epstein. In a statement to USA Today, the group said, “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.”
While the installation was designed as a piece of protest art, it quickly drew sharp reactions from across the political spectrum. The timing was notable: President Trump was preparing to participate in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, and the country was still reeling from the release of thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein’s activities—a release that the Trump administration has touted as a step toward transparency.
The statues’ plaques also include a direct quote from a birthday message Trump reportedly wrote for Epstein more than two decades ago. This note, which has been the subject of heated debate, was made public by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier this month after being turned over by the Epstein estate. According to The Hill, the note contains a crude sketch of a naked woman’s silhouette and a purported conversation in which Trump calls Epstein a “pal” and writes, “May every day be another wonderful secret.” The authenticity of the letter has been challenged by the White House, but its release has only fueled further scrutiny.
In response to the installation and the renewed attention on Trump’s relationship with Epstein, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Hill via email, “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.” Jackson went further, accusing Democrats, the media, and the artists behind the statue of hypocrisy. “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,” she said.
The political reverberations have been swift. In recent months, the Trump administration has faced mounting criticism for its handling of information related to Epstein. The controversy reached a new pitch on September 22, when The Wall Street Journal requested a judge dismiss Trump’s lawsuit against the outlet over its reporting on Epstein. The Journal’s legal team argued that the lawsuit posed a threat to free speech, writing in a court filing, “This case calls out for dismissal. In an affront to the First Amendment, the President of the United States brought this lawsuit to silence a newspaper for publishing speech that was subsequently proven true by documents released by Congress to the American public.”
The drama didn’t end with the art installation or the legal wrangling. On September 8, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives made public the birthday letter Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein over 20 years ago, a move that added fuel to the fire. The White House has consistently denied the letter’s authenticity, but the issue has taken on new urgency with FBI Director Kash Patel agreeing to open an investigation into the note. As reported by USA Today, the investigation will focus on determining whether the letter is real and, if so, what it might reveal about the nature of Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
For many, the statue serves as a flashpoint in a much larger conversation about accountability, transparency, and the power of public art to challenge those in positions of authority. The Secret Handshake Project’s use of irony and visual symbolism—Trump and Epstein holding hands, the heart-shaped motif, the exaggerated smiles—has been interpreted by some as a biting critique of political hypocrisy, while others dismiss it as a partisan stunt. Regardless, the group’s work has undeniably succeeded in sparking discussion and drawing attention to issues that continue to haunt the nation’s political landscape.
Meanwhile, the release of thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein by the Trump administration has been cited by some as evidence of a commitment to openness. Others, however, argue that the move is too little, too late, and contend that both parties have failed to adequately address the suffering of Epstein’s victims. The debate has become a microcosm of the broader political divide, with each side accusing the other of cynicism, opportunism, or worse.
The installation’s sudden appearance on the National Mall—just steps from the Capitol—underscores the enduring potency of art as protest and the deep anxieties that continue to swirl around the Epstein case. As the FBI investigation unfolds and the legal battles over press freedom play out in the courts, the statue stands as a vivid, if unsettling, reminder of the unresolved questions at the heart of the controversy. For now, it remains to be seen whether the artwork will prompt meaningful reflection or simply add another layer to an already tangled web of scandal, politics, and public outrage.
Amid the swirl of accusations, denials, and artistic interventions, one thing is clear: the conversation about Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and the search for truth in American public life is far from over.