Visitors to the National Mall in Washington DC were greeted with a unusual art installation showing figures resembling US President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The sculpture was placed near the US Capitol.
The installation depicts the two figures recreating the famous “Titanic pose,” where the characters Jack and Rose stand at the front of a ship with their arms outstretched. Titled “King of the World,” the artwork references the iconic scene from the film Titanic.
A plaque displayed near the sculpture described it as a tribute to the “bond” between Trump and Epstein. “The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties and secret nude sketches,” the text read. “This monument honours the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.”
Tourists and visitors were seen taking photographs of the installation, which stood in front of banners featuring images of the two men alongside the phrase “Make America Safe Again.”
Anonymous collective behind the installation
The sculpture was reportedly placed by an anonymous artist collective known as Secret Handshake. The group has previously installed political artworks across Washington without prior notice.
In September last year, the same collective placed another statue showing Trump and Epstein holding hands near the US Capitol. That installation was later removed.
Secret Handshake has also staged other protest pieces in the city. These include a “poop statue” mocking participants in the January 6 Capitol attack and a large replica of what the group claimed was Trump’s birthday letter to Epstein.
Renewed scrutiny over Epstein links
The appearance of the sculpture comes at a time when Trump is facing renewed scrutiny over his alleged ties to Epstein, who was accused of running a child sex trafficking and prostitution network.
Attention has increased after the US Department of Justice began releasing documents related to Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November. Several of the documents mention Trump along with other prominent figures.
Last week, the Justice Department released additional FBI records summarising interviews conducted in 2019 with an unidentified woman during the agency’s investigation into Epstein.
According to the records, the woman alleged that Trump attempted to force her to perform oral sex after Epstein introduced her to him in either New York or New Jersey in the 1980s. She said she was between 13 and 15 years old at the time. FBI agents interviewed her four times in 2019.
The accuracy of the allegation has not been independently verified. FBI records show that agents stopped communicating with the woman later that year.
Trump denies allegations
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said his association with Epstein ended in the mid-2000s. He has also said he was unaware of Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse.
Previously released records show that Trump flew several times on Epstein’s plane during the 1990s, a claim Trump has denied.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt dismissed the newly reported allegation, calling it “completely baseless accusations backed by zero credible evidence.”
The Justice Department has also warned that some of the released documents contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” about Trump.
Political pressure over document release
The disclosure of the records has sparked political debate in Washington over how the Epstein-related documents were handled.
The Justice Department said the files had earlier been “incorrectly coded as duplicative,” which is why they were not previously released.
Democrats in Congress have accused the administration of withholding material connected to Trump. In response, a committee in the US House of Representatives has voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to question her about the handling and disclosure of the documents.
Epstein died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. His death brought renewed global attention to allegations involving powerful figures connected to him.
Meanwhile, protest artworks linked to the case continue to appear around Washington. Last week, another installation titled “Jeffrey Epstein Walk of Shame” appeared in Farragut Square, styled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame and displaying the names of politicians, billionaires and other individuals reported to have had ties to Epstein.