The White House appears to be unhappy about the emergence of a sculpture mocking President Donald Trump in response to his recent military parade.
According to The Daily Beast, the eight-foot sculpture is called “Dictator Approved,” and it includes that phrase, along with “a gold-painted hand giving a thumbs up while crushing the Statue of Liberty’s verdigris crown.” Also included on the sculpture are quotes from “authoritarian leaders praising Trump.”
The sculpture, located on the National Mall not far from the White House, has the necessary permits, according to the report.
The sculpture “Will feature imagery similar to autocratic, oppressive regime, i.e. N. Korea, Russia, and China, marching through DC.,” per the permits.
An 8-foot-tall sculpture showing a gold-painted hand with a distinctive thumbs-up, quashing the sea foam green crown of the Statue of Liberty. It remains at the same location on the Mall, near Third Street NW, as the poop statue did last fall.
The artwork’s creators intended… pic.twitter.com/gtWUOxI7sb
— 𓂀 𝕋𝔼𝔸ℍ 𓂀 (@TeahCartel) June 19, 2025
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According to The Washington Post, the sculpture may come from the same parties responsible for the “poop statue” that appeared last year. However, the identity of those responsible for the sculptures and other similar ones remains a mystery. “Mary Harris” is listed as the permit applicant.
The quotes praising Trump, the Post said, come from Russian President Vladimir Putin (“President Trump is a very bright and talented man.”), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (“The most respected, the most feared person is Donald Trump.”), former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (“We do have a great deal of shared values. I admire President Trump.”) and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (“Your Excellency.” A “special” relationship. “The extraordinary courage of President Trump.”)
The White House, meanwhile, issued an angry statement in response to the sculpture’s appearance.
The 8-foot sculpture features quotes from authoritarian leaders worldwide praising Trump.https://t.co/WV3ZmeEzvM
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 19, 2025
“If these Democrat activists were living in a dictatorship, their eyesore of a sculpture wouldn’t be sitting on the National Mall right now,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, wrote in an emailed statement to the newspaper. “In the United States of America, you have the freedom to display your so-called ‘art,’ no matter how ugly it is.”
Some passersby liked what they saw.
“If all these authoritarian politicians approve of our president, then maybe people will see a pattern recognition and see where democracy is headed,” Francesca Carlo, a 20-year-old visitor to Washington, told the Post.
Photo courtesy of X screenshot.
