A propaganda war on the National Mall pits Trump against satirical statues and posters

NPR | By Frank Langfitt

Published April 1, 2026 at 11:22 AM CDT

A satirical statue of President Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein went up in front of the U.S. Capitol in February. The temporary statue drew huge crowds that amplified the image by posting it on social media. The statue is a play on the iconic scene from the film Titanic and is called "King of the World." — A satirical statue of President Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein went up in front of the U.S. Capitol in February. The temporary statue drew huge crowds that amplified the image by posting it on social media. The statue is a play on the iconic scene from the film *Titanic* and is called "King of the World."

WASHINGTON — There's a propaganda war playing out on the National Mall between the Trump administration and its critics. The administration has hung giant banners bearing President Trump's face from several federal buildings. His name now adorns both the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the United States Institute of Peace.

Meanwhile, an anonymous group called the Secret Handshake has put up satirical statues of Trump and artworks that emphasize everything from the president's friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to Trump's taste for marble and gold leaf.

Another group, the Save America Movement, has plastered posters on fences and walls mocking members of Trump's Cabinet. One shows a photo of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and says, "Fascism Ain't Pretty." Another shows Attorney General Pam Bondi and reads, "Epstein Queen."

The Save America Movement, a nonprofit, has plastered posters around Washington, D.C. This one mocks Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of the Epstein files.

A man poses for a photograph with a gold-painted, faux-marble toilet sculpture titled "A Throne Fit For a King" that was installed March 31 near the Lincoln Memorial. The Secret Handshake, an artist collective, put up the statue, which mocks President Trump's renovation of the White House bathroom attached to the Lincoln Bedroom, a project that drew criticism for taking place during a government shutdown.

"We think that ridicule is a really important tool in an opposition toolbox to fight authoritarianism," said Mary Corcoran, who runs the Save America Movement, a nonprofit.

Corcoran adds that she doesn't see this as a fair fight "because they're using taxpayer dollars to fund their propaganda, and we're not."

The White House rejects criticisms that the president is recasting the National Mall in his own image and using federal buildings for self-aggrandizement.

Workers hung this banner in February from the Department of Justice headquarters. Visitors and scholars liken it to the political iconography seen in authoritarian states such as China and the former Soviet Union.

"President Trump is focused on saving our country — not garnering recognition," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told NPR by email. "A variety of organizations are free to share their opinions publicly, even when they lack any basis in reality."

The National Mall is known as America's front yard, and includes monuments and museums designed to unify the nation and celebrate democracy.

Last month, a gold-painted statue depicting Trump holding Epstein's outstretched arms on the prow of a ship as though they were Jack and Rose on the Titanic drew a steady stream of people who laughed and posed in front of it for photos.

Not everyone was amused.

"It's a gross interpretation of our president," said Andi Lynn Helmy, a high school senior from Jacksonville, Fla. "Even if you don't agree with his policies ... I think it's just an incredibly disrespectful thing."

The battle of images playing out on the National Mall has yielded remarkable juxtapositions. They include this giant banner of President Trump, which hangs from the Department of Labor. In the foreground are banners put up by the anonymous group the Secret Handshake, which read "Make America Safe Again" and emphasize the president's friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Epstein banners are a rebuttal to a Trump banner that hangs from the Department of Justice and also reads "Make America Safe Again."

Other visitors took exception to the president's face staring down from those banners on the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice. They likened it to the images of personalized rule seen in the People's Republic of China during the Chairman Mao Tse-Tung era and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.

"I just feel like he's sort of painting himself as the king of America," said Luke Price, a freshman at the University of Vermont. "I just don't think that's what we're about. America is a democracy, not a dictatorship."