Trump’s Goons Topple 12-Foot Statue of Him and Epstein. | The 12-foot bronze had got a permit from the federal government—but then vanished.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-epstein-statue-in-dc-vanishes-despite-legal-permit/

41 comments

  1. Sure, because that will totally make us talk about it LESS. I wish some of these people could talk to Barbara Streisand circa 2003

  2. Where did it vanish to?

    That my friend, is a wonderful secret.

  3. I thought rightwingers hated when statues of losers and traitors got removed.

  4. Full Text:

    > *Trump’s Goons Topple 12-Foot Statue of Him and Epstein*

    >
    >
    > A towering 12-foot statue of President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands mysteriously appeared on the Capitol Mall early Tuesday.
    >
    > By sunrise Wednesday, it had vanished.
    >
    > The United States Park Police quietly removed the provocative bronze sculpture around 5:30 a.m., according to footage obtained by the Daily Beast.
    >
    > The removal violates a permit issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to “The Secret Handshake,” the group that claimed responsibility for the installation. The statue was authorized to remain on display across from the Capitol on 3rd Street, between Madison and Jefferson Avenues, until Sunday at 8 p.m., documents reviewed by the Daily Beast reveal.
    >
    > The DOI is also required to notify the artists at least 24 hours before the statue is removed for any reason.
    >
    >
    > In a statement to the Daily Beast, an Interior spokesperson said the statue was removed “because it was not compliant with the permit issued.” The spokesperson did not elaborate further.
    >
    > The White House denied to comment on the statue’s removal and referred the Daily Beast to the DOI for comment.
    >
    > A spokesperson for The Secret Handshake called the statue’s removal “a literal example of the Trump administration toppling free speech when it has been legally permitted and approved because they are scared about whatever Trump is hiding in the Epstein files.”
    >
    > “We found out at the end of the day that some people within the parks department aka most likely the Trump administration were trying to find ways to say we were not in compliance,” the spokesperson said.
    >
    > “We were then told everything is okay and that if the administration decided to remove it we would have 24 hours notice to take it down ourselves. Instead, they showed up in the middle of the night without notice and physically toppled the statue, broke it, and took it away.”

    >
    > The statue’s current whereabouts are unknown, according to the group.
    >
    > Before its removal, the installation featured several plaques highlighting Trump’s relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
    >
    > “In Honor of Friendship Month we celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein,” one plaque reads.

    > The anonymous spokesperson for Secret Handshake told the Daily Beast that the group is “celebrat[ing] the President and one of his closest former friends, Jeffrey Epstein.” The Secret Handshake
    >
    > Others feature Trump’s own words from a 2003 birthday card to Epstein. Trump has denied writing the birthday message.
    >

    > “We erected it now because there is almost universal bipartisan interest in Donald Trump following through on his promise to release the Epstein files,” the spokesperson said.
    >
    > The card, which Trump has denied writing, is a fictional dialogue between the two men that Epstein’s estate released earlier this month. The Secret Handshake/The Secret Handshake
    >
    > Trump has insisted that he and Epstein were never close friends, repeating several times that he distanced himself from the late financier after he was put on the sex offender list in 2008, shortly after he pleaded guilty to a charge of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.
    >
    > But his claims haven’t yet buried the mounting public pressure to release the so-called “Epstein files.”
    >
    > On Tuesday, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote off the statue as superfluous in a statement.
    >
    > “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 began.
    >
    > “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.”
    >
    > The Trump administration has previously allowed installations by The Secret Handshake to remain in place.
    > The “Dictator Approved” anti-Trump art installation in front of the U.S. Capitol on the National Mall on June 17, 2025 in Washington, DC.
    >
    > In June, an eight-foot sculpture titled “Dictator Approved,” showing a Trumpian thumbs-up crushing Lady Liberty’s crown, appeared on the National Mall. A week later, it was replaced with a golden “television” statue depicting Trump dancing shoulder-to-shoulder with Epstein.
    >
    > “In June, the White House literally praised themselves for allowing free speech to stay up in reference to our ‘Dictator Approved’ statue,” the artist’s spokesperson wrote. “I guess a lot has changed since then.”
    >

  5. Too late, we all know he sexually abused kids, AND that you all worship a sex abuser.

    How does it feel to go home and look at your kids knowing you obsess over a dude that sees them as sexual fodder? Or would you feel honored if he chose them?

  6. Just to summarize:

    They had a permit from the government to display the statue. (and a legal right to do so)

    The government also had a 24-hour notice requirement that they MUST issue if it was to be removed for any violation of the permit.

    No notification was given.

    The statue wasn’t just removed, it was toppled and broken, and the Trump administration won’t say where it is.

  7. Wait they got a permit for it?! That is awesome and hilarious. Now sue their asses for ignoring the permit, stealing your property and damaging it. Likely falls under the first amendment violation too considering it can be seen as a protest piece that had permits and was removed by the feds.

  8. DJT’s statue didn’t portray his revolting corpulence accurately.  Surely that’s why it was taken down.

  9. “Trump’s Goons” – I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing those words in headlines a lot more frequently.

  12. Surely this will stop people from talking about the Epstein files

  15. Time to give the lawyers a call and get the ball rolling on several lawsuits

  16. It would be great if another statue appeared next day.

  17. I really hope they made copies. It’d be a chef’s kiss, if a new one was up by tomorrow morning.

  19. To quote someone when a different statue came down “You can’t change history!!!”

  21. How could they destroy this nation’s cultural heritage like that?

  22. If someone’s proud enough of their pedophilia to write jokey birthday cards about it, why not statues?

  23. So, basically, what you are saying is that it worked, and should be replicated widely?

  24. Who’s ever made this is amazing bringing joy to the world 

  27. What they don’t realize is that whoever made this likely has a mold, so they can just pour another without too much fuss. Hilarious if this started showing up all over the country.

    Also hilarious coming from the man who famously fought to prevent statues of awful people from being taken down.

  28. Wait… I thought conservatives never deface property? I thought that was only a liberal thing? /s

  29. So the GOP reason for not releasing the Epstein files is to protect the innocent in them (victims, others)

    What is the GOP reason for taking this down?

    I’m starting to think maybe the GOP is just protecting Trump?

  31. Lawless administration stifling free speech — political speech— and violating 1st Amendment because it criticizes their thin-skinned, megalomaniacal dear leader. Also an unlawful taking that violates the 5th Amendment. Add to articles of impeachment

  36. so, since they had a permit, wouldn’t this be violating free speech?

  37. Once again 1A is being trampled egregiously. The silver lining is you know this must’ve pissed him off so bad lmao. That snowflake probably filled his Depends in anger.

  39. Put up a duplicate statue someplace widely visible but private. Taunt the pedo loving fascists. They’re so fragile, we might get a stroke or two out of it. 

  41. trump literally sees himself as the owner of US. He treats it like its his property, and he’s the boss.

    The potus thinks he has the power to just do what he wants, and that everyone should love him.

    I doubt anything would come of it, but I hope this group sues for the value of their statue. I’m not usually litigous, but this seems like a clear case of first amendment rights, illegal seizing of property, damaging that property, and contractual issues related to the terms of their permit.

    The government can’t ignore a legal permit, seize property, and destroy that property because it hurts the presidents feelings.

    Add on that the whitehouse issued a statement saying it was dumb and didn’t matter, then destroyed it at dawn, probably on park department OT. Hard to say we don’t care, then lash out and destroy it.

    Your thin skin is showing, donny.

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