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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Trump-Epstein statue returns to National Mall after removal by NPS | |
By Nicky Robertson, Emily Condon, CNN | |
Updated: | |
8:40 AM EDT, Fri October 3, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
A statue of President Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein | |
holding hands has returned to the National Mall after it was last week. | |
Called “Best Friends Forever,” the statue shows Trump and Epstein | |
each with a foot kicked back and a hand flailing into the air, as well | |
as a plaque between the pair titled “In Honor of Friendship Month” | |
that reads: “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President | |
Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.” | |
Trump has denied having had a close relationship with Epstein, and has | |
dismissed the controversies surrounding their ties as a “Democratic | |
hoax.” | |
The statue was put back together by the organization responsible for | |
it, “The Secret Handshake.” It had been dismantled and severely | |
damaged after its ordered removal last week, and there are still | |
visible marks of the damage. | |
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, which oversees NPS, | |
told CNN last week that the statue was removed “because it was not | |
compliant with the permit issued.” | |
The permit for the statue’s return was approved on September 30, | |
before the federal government shutdown. A member of “The Secret | |
Handshake” told CNN the group was told that the shutdown should not | |
affect the statue’s installation. | |
A Department of Interior spokesperson responded to CNN’s request for | |
comment from NPS, writing, “The only people holding hands in D.C. | |
right now are (Senate Minority Leader Chuck) Schumer and (House | |
Minority Leader Hakeem) Jeffries after they shut down the government to | |
push their radical agenda.” | |
“The Secret Handshake” has on the National Mall which went viral. | |
In 2024, the group put up “The Resolute Desk,” a bronze replica of | |
former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk – topped with an | |
emoji-like poop the size of a basketball – meant to allude to the | |
January 6 insurrection, when a supporter who stormed the Capitol was | |
with his feet on the desk. | |
The group also installed a statue in Freedom Plaza titled, “The | |
Donald J. Trump Enduring Flame,” a bronze statue of a tiki torch, | |
which appeared to mock Trump’s who attended a White supremacist rally | |
in 2017. And it put up the “Dictator Approved” statue, which | |
depicted a golden hand giving a thumbs up and crushing the Statue of | |
Liberty’s crown, on the National Mall. | |
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report. | |
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