--- title: Trump Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Destroyed By Pickax description: President Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed Wednesday morning by a pickaxe, police said canonical: https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-25T14:09:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:35:29.527Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Has Been Destroyed Again. This Time With a Pickaxe og:description: A pickax wielding man smashed the star, according to reports og:url: https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7aff11073fa64f/6989362b4ee262105c312682/donald-trump-star-destroyed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3100 og:image:height: 1744 og:image:alt: Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks - 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Has Been Destroyed Again. This Time With a Pickaxe twitter:description: A pickax wielding man smashed the star, according to reports twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7aff11073fa64f/6989362b4ee262105c312682/donald-trump-star-destroyed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Has Been Destroyed Again > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f52da86a-9717-4456-8533-0f8cfde0ff70&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Someone Destroyed Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star With a Sledgehammer [Watch (HLS stream): Someone Destroyed Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star With a Sledgehammer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Yd9ZR6Sv.m3u8) (0:42)  _Published 2016-10-26. The man had hoped to remove the star to auction it off for charity_ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jul 25, 2018 2:09 PM UTC President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed Wednesday morning by a pickaxe. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jul 25, 2018 2:09 PM UTC President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed Wednesday morning by a pickaxe. Officers responded to a call at the star’s location on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue around 3:30 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Ray Brown told TIME. They found that Trump’s star had been destroyed with a pickaxe. Photos from the scene from reporters and witnesses show the damaged Trump star with a pickaxe lying alongside a pile of rubble. The star appears to be gouged out, leaving a hole. NBCLA reporter [Johnathan Gonzalez](https://twitter.com/JonathanNBCLA) tweeted that, according to witnesses, a man pulled the pickaxe out of a guitar case when he walked up to the star. > [](https://twitter.com/JonathanNBCLA/status/1022076425308753920) > [](https://twitter.com/JonathanNBCLA/status/1022078169963098117) Gonzalez said the man called the police to report the incident but left before officers arrived. The LAPD did not immediately provide information about the suspect. It is unclear how much the damage to the star will cost. It’s the second time Trump’s [Hollywood Walk of Fame star](http://time.com/4546122/donald-trump-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-destroyed/) has been destroyed. In 2016, police arrested [James Otis](http://time.com/4548269/enums/), who smashed the star with a pickaxe and sledgehammer. Otis was put on [probation for three years](https://apnews.com/b4a057063d264b5394e22331369bbfaa) in February 2017 after he pleaded no contest to a felony vandalism charge. He was ordered to pay $4,400 for the damage and lawyer’s fees and sentenced to 20 days of community service, the Associated Press reported. ## Transcript [00:23] [ APPLAUSE ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Has Been Destroyed Again","datePublished":"2018-07-25T14:09:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:35:29.527Z","description":"A pickax wielding man smashed the star, according to reports","url":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7aff11073fa64f/6989362b4ee262105c312682/donald-trump-star-destroyed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7aff11073fa64f/6989362b4ee262105c312682/donald-trump-star-destroyed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks - 2016","caption":"Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks - 2016","creditText":"AaronP/Bauer-Griffin—;GC 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":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/","name":"Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Has Been Destroyed Again"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Has Been Destroyed Again","description":"President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed Wednesday morning by a pickaxe.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kSo7qF0v/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-25T17:45:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kSo7qF0v.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/","duration":"PT28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Someone Destroyed Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star With a Sledgehammer","description":"The man had hoped to remove the star to auction it off for charity","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Yd9ZR6Sv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-26T18:30:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Yd9ZR6Sv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/","duration":"PT42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5348157/trump-hollywood-star-destroyed/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```