Statue of Trump and Epstein, Hand in Hand, Returns to National Mall After Having Been Removed

A 10-foot-tall statue depicting President Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein clasping hands in a gleeful pose reappeared on the National Mall Thursday afternoon — one week after the National Park Service hauled it away, citing a permit violation.The National Park Service didn’t just remove the bronze-painted statue: Employees broke it, severing the clasped hands between Mr. Trump and Epstein. But the statue appeared to have been repaired when it resurfaced amid the capital’s iconic statuary, with the two figures’ hands reunited. Only faint scars from the separation were still visible.The statue — mockingly titled “Best Friends Forever” — is a guerrilla art installation from an anonymous collective of artists waging creative opposition against the Trump administration.The group said that the NPS returned the damaged statue late last week. The group also supplied the Washington Post with copies of email messages between the agency and a location manager for the city, Carol Flaisher, who filed the permit application on the artists’ behalf. NPS appears to have given its blessing to the project, whose purpose is “to demonstrate freedom of speech and artistic expression using political imagery,” according to the permit application.In a September 30 email massage, NPS officials acknowledged receipt of the new permit application; agency rules call for grant applications to be approved automatically within 24 hours unless explicitly rejected in writing. A follow-up email Thursday morning made it official: the statue could be legally erected again at noon on the National Mall, where it will remain for a limited time.The statue’s return drew the attention of tourists and other visitors along the public square.“I more than love it,” an artist from Knoxville, Tennessee, Melinda Winters, said to the Post. “If you can think of something higher than love, put that down.” She did however, have one criticism of the statue: “They didn’t make them look ugly enough.”Taunja Newby, of Hyattsville, Maryland, who was recently ousted from her job at the Department of Housing and Urban Development after 36 years in a mass layoff, was pleased to come across the art installation while walking with a friend. “I love it,” she said to the newspaper. “We all got duped. So any laugh we get these days, I’m taking it.”In an emailed statement to the Hill, a White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, said, “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.”

Statue of Trump and Epstein, Hand in Hand, Returns to National Mall After Having Been Removed

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