--- title: Inflatable Donald Trump Rat Appears in New York City description: A gigantic rat resembling Trump has appeared blocks away from Trump Tower in anticipation of his arrival. We interviewed the guy behind it. canonical: https://time.com/4901112/donald-trump-rat-balloon/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-15T15:07:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:30.169Z og:title: Meet the Man Behind the Big Inflatable Trump Rat Mocking Him in New York og:description: It's got pursed lips, buck teeth — and yes, that unmistakable red tie og:url: https://time.com/4901112/donald-trump-rat-balloon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4a1b918c0798fe7/6988d9c5656a3f12ccbd147d/gettyimages-831428800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4992 og:image:height: 2808 og:image:alt: President Trump To Return To Trump Tower In New York City For First Time Since Taking Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Man Behind the Big Inflatable Trump Rat Mocking Him in New York twitter:description: It's got pursed lips, buck teeth — and yes, that unmistakable red tie twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4a1b918c0798fe7/6988d9c5656a3f12ccbd147d/gettyimages-831428800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Man Behind the Big Inflatable Trump Rat Mocking Him in New York > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 15, 2017 3:07 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 14: Pedestrians walk past a 15-foot tall inflatable rat in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street up the road from Trump Tower, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Numerous protests are expected throughout the city today as President Trump is expected to arrive this evening at his home at Trump Tower, which will be his first visit back to his 5th Avenue apartment since the inauguration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 14: Pedestrians walk past a 15-foot tall inflatable rat in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street up the road from Trump Tower, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Numerous protests are expected throughout the city today as President Trump is expected to arrive this evening at his home at Trump Tower, which will be his first visit back to his 5th Avenue apartment since the inauguration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 15, 2017 3:07 PM UTC [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4901006/donald-trump-charlottesville-trump-tower-protests/) might not make it onto Mount Rushmore, but he’s popped up in [unflattering balloon](http://time.com/4619394/donald-trump-china-rooster-lunar-new-year-inflatable/) form again. This time, it’s in his hometown in the style of the inflatable rats that union workers use to strike against construction sites employing non-union labor. This new 15-foot, unmissable [Trump inflatable piece](http://time.com/4894876/donald-trump-chicken-balloon/) appeared at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, down the street from Trump Tower, hours before the President was scheduled to arrive on Monday. The orange-faced, rat-human hybrid has extra voluminous ears, pursed lips, buck teeth, that unmistakable red tie, a long tail, and an extra dig: Confederate flag cufflinks. Unsurprisingly, the spectacle drew crowds and tourists for selfies. It’s all the brainchild of New York City-based BravinLee art gallery owners John Lee and his wife Karin Bravin, who view Trump as “unprepared” to lead. Inspiration came when Lee saw a grotequse looking rat on Jackson Avenue in Queens right after the election. “I was just always impressed with how grotesque the rat was as public art,” he told TIME. It’s the first overtly political statement the owners of the mom and pop art gallery have launched. “All I could do is to ridicule,” Lee said. “Ridicule is a very important tool in taking on the powerful.” Lee said the rat will be up for “as long as Trump is in the White House,” and its next stop is Washington, D.C. Trump returned home to Trump Tower on Monday for the first time since his inauguration, and was met by [protesters](http://time.com/4900878/trump-tower-new-york-protests/) and a much smaller throng of supporters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4901112/donald-trump-rat-balloon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4901112/donald-trump-rat-balloon/"},"headline":"Meet the Man Behind the Big Inflatable Trump Rat Mocking Him in New York","datePublished":"2017-08-15T15:07:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:30.169Z","description":"It's got pursed lips, buck teeth — and yes, that unmistakable red tie","url":"https://time.com/4901112/donald-trump-rat-balloon/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","Donald Trump","trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4a1b918c0798fe7/6988d9c5656a3f12ccbd147d/gettyimages-831428800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4a1b918c0798fe7/6988d9c5656a3f12ccbd147d/gettyimages-831428800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump To Return To Trump Tower In New York City For First Time Since Taking Office","caption":"President Trump To Return To Trump Tower In New York City For First Time Since Taking Office","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4901112/donald-trump-rat-balloon/","name":"Meet the Man Behind the Big Inflatable Trump Rat Mocking Him in New York"}}]}] ```