A cheeky statue of President Donald Trump holding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s hand is back on the National Mall, less than a week after it was removed.
The piece—renamed “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”—captures Trump and Epstein mid-gesture, each with a foot lifted and a hand flung into the air. A plaque between them reads: “In Honor of Friendship Month: We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.”
The piece was initially titled “Best Friends Forever,” but the artists changed the name after it briefly disappeared.
“In the end, we thought Trump was the guy INTO rebuilding old statues of racist relics, and—as a racist relic himself—assumed he would want to rebuild his own image,” Secret Handshake, the anonymous group behind the statue, told Axios Thursday. “Not sure what changed?”
The group said it plans to keep the statue on display through Monday evening.
Trump, of course, denies ever being close to Epstein, calling their alleged ties a “hoax.” Still, the evidence is hard to ignore.
In September, after reviewing the Epstein estate files, the House Oversight Committee posted what it said was a birthday card from Trump to Epstein. The card, featuring a woman’s torso drawn over apparent dialogue between the two men, reportedly read: “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
It’s easy to see why Trump would want to distance himself. The card made many people uneasy: A September YouGov poll for The Economist found that 61% of Americans considered it “disturbing,” while just 13% found it “playful.” Even among Trump voters, 35% considered it disturbing, while just 25% considered it playful.
Unsurprisingly, the White House isn’t thrilled about the statue’s return.
“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,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told reporters. “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.”
In a statement to Daily Kos, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, made it clear that the agency wasn’t exactly thrilled with the statue either, framing its presence as an opportunity to push a political jab at the federal shutdown.
“The only people holding hands in D.C. right now are Schumer and Jeffries after they shut down the government to push their radical agenda,” they wrote.
According to CNN, Secret Handshake rebuilt the statue after it was dismantled and damaged last week, and marks from the damage are still visible. The Interior Department initially removed the 12-foot statue because it was “not compliant with the permit issued,” but a permit to have it reinstated was approved on Sept. 30, just days before the shutdown.
The Secret Handshake has a history of viral stunts. In 2024, it installed “The Resolute Desk,” a bronze replica of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk, topped with a basketball-sized pile of bronze poop, mocking the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
Other works include “The Donald J. Trump Enduring Flame,” a tiki torch statue satirizing Trump’s defense of 2017 white supremacist marchers, and “Dictator Approved,” which shows a golden hand crushing Lady Liberty’s crown.
The group isn’t the only one making a name for itself by trolling Trump. In Scotland, where Trump headed for a weekend of golfing in July, hundreds of protesters staged numerous demonstrations—including rappelling off a bridge, waving Palestinian flags, and shouting for Trump to be sent packing.
Many have made trolling Trump their full-time gig. But until the Epstein files are fully released, this saga—and these statues—aren’t going anywhere.
