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A sculpture of a golden toilet upon a marble throne that bears a likeness to U.S. President Donald Trump’s styling of the Oval Office has appeared on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in protest of the White House renovations.
The marble-and-gold structure features a plaque that reads, “A throne fit for a king. In a time of unprecedented division, escalating conflict, and economic turmoil, President Trump focused on what truly mattered: remodelling the Lincoln bathroom in the White House.”
“It stands as a tribute to an unwavering visionary who looked down, saw a problem and painted it gold.”
The statue includes a roll of toilet paper that reads “The Secret Handshake,” the name of a group that has claimed responsibility for similar stunts.
As well as redoing the bathroom off the Lincoln bedroom, Trump has added a wide array of golden gilding to the Oval Office and is closing the Kennedy Center — after the board voted to rename it to include the president — for a two-year remodel.
Trump has also initiated an extensive renovation of the White House, including the demolition of the East Wing and the replacement of the space with a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, at a US$400-million cost footed by the president and a slew of private donors.
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Washington, where the East Wing once stood.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
In an email statement to Reuters, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump was making the “White House and our entire Nation’s Capital more beautiful than ever before.”
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“The president will never stop working on behalf of the American people and fulfill the promises that he was overwhelmingly elected to do,” Ingle said in response to a request for comment on the throne.
Last week, the president told reporters on Air Force One that a “massive” military complex was being constructed underneath the new ballroom and that the project was “ahead of schedule.”
In the past, the lower levels of the East Wing housed the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, which served multiple purposes, such as planning secret presidential trips and evacuation efforts, including that of former vice-president Dick Cheney, who was sent into the space shortly before a plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Trump and other senior officials also sheltered there in May 2020 during protests near the White House.
Fake monuments mocking Trump and his allies have appeared regularly since he began his second term.
Earlier this month, a statue of the president and Jeffrey Epstein, embracing like the Titanic characters Jack and Rose in one of the film’s most famous scenes, was placed on the National Mall.
Similarly, in September and October 2025, a statue depicting Trump and Epstein holding hands appeared on the National Mall.
The bronze sculpture, titled “Best Friends Forever,” first appeared on Sept. 23 but was removed the following day before reappearing weeks later.
“We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein,” read a plaque at the foot of the installation.
The Secret Handshake is also known for creating a giant version of a suggestive birthday note that Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein on his 50th birthday. It was displayed on the National Mall on Jan. 20, on what would have been Epstein’s 73rd birthday.
— With files from Reuters
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