Statue of Trump, Epstein holding hands taken down by National Park Service Kinsey Crowley and Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY September 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM 385 A statue showing President Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands was removed by the National Park Service before the end of ...
- - Statue of Trump, Epstein holding hands taken down by National Park Service
Kinsey Crowley and Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY September 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
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A statue showing President Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands was removed by the National Park Service before the end of its scheduled display.
A group called The Secret Handshake said the statue was put up in celebration of "Friendship Month," a tongue-in-cheek reference to the once-close friendship between Trump and Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Trump's administration has come under intense criticism over its handling of records related to the case, rankling many leading voices within the MAGA-sphere.
A National Park Service permit for the statue obtained by USA TODAY shows it was planned to be on display through 8 p.m. Sept. 28. But The Secret Handshake said NPS representatives appeared about 5:30 a.m. Sept. 24, knocked down the statue and took it to a government warehouse. Footage shared by the group shows someone identifying himself with NPS telling people behind the camera the statue was not compliant because it is too big, before workers push the statue over.
The permit says it may be revoked "at any time after providing 24 hours' written notice to the Permittee setting forth the reasons for the revocation."
Organizers at The Secret Handshake, who wish to remain anonymous, said they did not receive advance notice of the statue's removal and it was broken in the removal process. They said it was an example of an attack on free speech.
The Department of the Interior told USA TODAY the statue was removed because it was not compliant with the permit. It did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about the reason for noncompliance or accusations of free speech violations.
More: Trump says he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein because he 'stole people that worked for me'
A statue of President Donald Trump and the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unveiled Sept. 23, 2025 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A plaque below the figures states "In Honor of Friendship Month." It's the Secret Handshake Project's third such anti-Trump installation since June 2025.
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A statue of President Donald Trump and the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unveiled Sept. 23, 2025 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A plaque below the figures states "In Honor of Friendship Month." It's the Secret Handshake Project's third such anti-Trump installation since June 2025.
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1 / 10Trump, Epstein hold hands in sculpture on National Mall 'In Honor of Friendship Month'A statue depicting President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands is seen near the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. A plaque below the figures states "In Honor of Friendship Month."Trump and Epstein statue created to highlight their relationship
The Secret Handshake took credit for the surprise protest art piece that appeared Sept. 23, which is the third such anti-Trump installation to pop up in the capital since June. The group also erected the so-called "Dictator Approved" piece, an 8-foot-tall sculpture of a hand squashing the crown of the Statue of Liberty while making a thumbs-up gesture; and the "Gold TV statue" multimedia installation, in which a golden TV showed images of Trump dancing, including with Epstein.
The Secret Handshake told USA TODAY they are a small group of citizens using art and humor to prompt political discourse. The statue was located across the street from the U.S. Capitol building, facing the expanse of the National Mall lawns that leads to the Washington Monument.
In one of three plaques affixed to the work's base, which was painted to look like marble, an inscription read: "We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his 'closest friend' Jeffrey Epstein."
The two other plaques, placed at the foot of the statue's depictions of Trump and Epstein, included lines from a controversial birthday note the president allegedly wrote to Epstein in 2003. The birthday note, written in the form of a conversation between "Jeffrey" and "Donald," was publicly released by the House Oversight Committee on Sept. 8. The note's lines of text are surrounded by the outline of a naked woman's body and Trump's purported signature is in the place of pubic hair. Trump has denied writing the note and has sued The Wall Street Journal for its initial reporting on the matter.
The NPS permit said the statues' purpose was "to demonstrate freedom of speech and artistic expression using political imagery."
Protest art installations related to the Epstein scandal have followed the president overseas, as well. Four people in England were arrested in connection with images of Trump with his arm around the late sex offender that were projected onto Windsor Castle, the home of the British royal family, during the president's state visit to the United Kingdom on Sept. 16.
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Friendship' statue of Trump, Epstein removed by National Park Service
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