Trump-Epstein 'friendship' statue removed from National Mall one day after it appeared [View all]
More unconstitutional censorship from Republicans.
What will it take for our mainstream media to publicly acknowledge that the GOP has embraced fascism?
— Kevin Leecaster (@greenfire.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy) 2025-09-24T13:28:00.000Z
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/politics/trump-epstein-statue-removed-national-mall/65-f509c666-6627-447e-9726-e8886b843123
WASHINGTON As quickly as it appeared, it is gone. The statue of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein has been hauled off of the National Mall.
Tuesday morning, the statue depicting the president and the late disgraced financier and sex offender holding hands and skipping showed up on the National Mall. The statue's plaque said, "In honor of friendship month, we celebrate the long-standing bond between President Donald J. Trump and his closest friend Jeffrey Epstein.
But Wednesday morning, U.S. Park Police removed the statue around 5:30 a.m. Reddit user Are-you-a-vegetable caught the act in a video posted to the Washington, D.C. subreddit.
A permit for the statue said it is allowed to remain on the mall until 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. Park Police told WUSA9 that it was removed for not being in compliance with the permit, but they did not explain how it violated the permit.
The permit does include a clause that it can be revoked at any time as long as the permittee was notified of the reason at least 24 hours in advance.
According to the permit, the statue also had full-time security.
Trump has made repeated efforts to distance himself from Epstein, despite reporting of mounting evidence that they knew each other well. Photographs link him to the sex trafficking suspect, and the Washington Post recently reported that the president gifted him a drawing of a woman's torso with a note for his birthday in 2003. He has denied writing the letter, though it is signed by him.