--- title: ‘Titanic’ Statue of Trump and Epstein Draws Attention in D.C. description: The sculpture, reportedly installed by the anonymous artist collective Secret Handshake, is titled "The King Of The World." canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-trump-epstein-statue-titanic-pose-mall-washington-dc/ author: Tiago Ventura article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-11T16:00:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-19T07:44:54.573Z article:section: Politics og:title: ‘Titanic’ Statue of Trump and Epstein Draws Attention on the Mall og:description: The sculpture, reportedly installed by the anonymous artist collective Secret Handshake, is titled "The King Of The World." og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-trump-epstein-statue-titanic-pose-mall-washington-dc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bf706cc767504eb/69b166cdeb760a55806a167a/Statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Statue.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ‘Titanic’ Statue of Trump and Epstein Draws Attention on the Mall twitter:description: The sculpture, reportedly installed by the anonymous artist collective Secret Handshake, is titled "The King Of The World." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bf706cc767504eb/69b166cdeb760a55806a167a/Statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘Titanic’ Statue of Trump and Epstein Draws Attention in D.C. > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. 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.  by [Tiago Ventura](https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/)  ## Tiago Ventura Mar 11, 2026 4:00 PM UTC  A statue depicting President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a 'Titanic'-themed pose is displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 2026. A statue depicting President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a 'Titanic'-themed pose is displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 2026. Celal Gunes—Getty Images  by [Tiago Ventura](https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/)  ## Tiago Ventura Mar 11, 2026 4:00 PM UTC A statue depicting President Donald Trump embracing the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a _Titanic_\-style pose has appeared on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The gold-painted replica of Trump can be seen standing behind Epstein, arms outstretched, at the bow of a miniature model of the doomed ship, a reference to the iconic pose of Jack and Rose in the 1997 blockbuster. The sculpture, reportedly installed by the anonymous artist collective Secret Handshake, is titled “The King Of The World”—a nod to the quote famously [delivered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItjXTieWKyI) by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack. “The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches,” reads a plaque beneath the satirical artwork. “This monument honors the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches.” Additional [banners](https://x.com/AFP/status/2031563896482349525) have been placed near the installation, featuring a photograph of Trump and Epstein together and emblazoned with one of the President’s own mantras: Make America Safe Again.” The Justice Department insignia appears with the word “Justice” redacted. Visitors to the Mall, a frequent site of demonstrations and temporary installations, have been seen taking photographs of the statue. The anonymous artists typically use other people to obtain their permits for installations from the National Park Service so that their art works can be displayed. Such permits tend to have an end date listed, although it’s unclear how long this piece will remain in place. The White House has dismissed the display. “When will these wealthy Democrat donors create sculptures of Democrats… who continued to solicit money and meetings from Epstein after he was convicted as a sex offender?” said deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson in a statement to TIME. TIME has contacted the Interior Department and the National Park Service for comment.  Banners on the National Mall in Washington on March 10, 2026. Bill Clark—Getty Images The Titanic-inspired installation follows [another sculpture](https://time.com/7319909/trump-epstein-statue-washington-dc-protest/) that appeared on the Mall in September, which depicted Trump and Epstein holding hands alongside a plaque reading: “In honor of friendship month, we celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend’ Jeffrey Epstein.” That statue was removed by the National Park Service following condemnation from the White House, but it later reappeared outside the U.S. Capitol for a short stint. ## A brief history of Trump's relationship with Epstein Trump has long come under scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein[, which dates back decades](https://time.com/5621911/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-what-to-know/). In a 2002 interview with [New York magazine](http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/n%5F7912/), Trump famously said that Epstein was “a lot of fun to be with.” “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump told the reporter. In July 2019, NBC News’ TODAY released [unearthed video footage](https://www.today.com/video/new-tape-shows-trump-and-epstein-at-mar-a-lago-party-in-1992-64003141847) believed to be from 1992, which showed Trump greeting Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The two men could be seen laughing as they engaged in conversation. After Epstein’s 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, Trump made strides to distance himself. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office in 2019, he[ said](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/trump-epstein.html): “I had a falling out with him \[Epstein\]. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”  A statue depicting Trump and Epstein holding hands is seen near the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images But the relationship was brought into question again last year, upon the publication of several letters said to be written by high-profile figures for a book celebrating Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. A birthday letter, alleged to have been signed by Trump and addressed to Epstein, was published. The note featured a drawing of the outline of a woman’s body alongside the message: “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.” [The White House denied ](https://time.com/7315735/trump-epstein-letter-check-karoline-leavitt/)that Trump wrote Epstein the birthday note, but stopped short of calling the documents fake. There was further scrutiny amid renewed debate over the full [release](https://time.com/7362445/epstein-files-million-pages-trump-department-justice/) of the Epstein files by the Justice Department. In [November](https://time.com/7333327/new-jeffrey-epstein-emails-allege-trump-aware-of-conduct/), newly-surfaced emails from Epstein alleged that Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with one of them. Trump has long denied having any prior knowledge of Epstein’s conduct. Following the release of an additional 3.5 million pages of records in January, [several public figures](https://time.com/7372763/epstein-files-united-kingdom-peter-mandelson-prince-andrew-starmer/) faced questions over their connection to the disgraced financier. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have since [testified](https://time.com/7382244/bill-hillary-clinton-epstein-files-testimony-footage-key-moments/) before the House Oversight Committee about their ties to Epstein. They both deny having had prior knowledge of his conduct and neither have been accused of wrongdoing. Trump, meanwhile, recently said he has been “[totally exonerated”](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1976283257101238) so far as the Epstein files are concerned. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-trump-epstein-statue-titanic-pose-mall-washington-dc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-trump-epstein-statue-titanic-pose-mall-washington-dc/"},"headline":"‘Titanic’ Statue of Trump and Epstein Draws Attention in D.C.","datePublished":"2026-03-11T16:00:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-19T07:44:54.573Z","description":"The sculpture, reportedly installed by the anonymous artist collective Secret Handshake, is titled \"The King Of The World.\"","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-trump-epstein-statue-titanic-pose-mall-washington-dc/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bf706cc767504eb/69b166cdeb760a55806a167a/Statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tiago Ventura","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bf706cc767504eb/69b166cdeb760a55806a167a/Statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Statue.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Celal Gunes—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":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-trump-epstein-statue-titanic-pose-mall-washington-dc/","name":"‘Titanic’ Statue of Trump and Epstein Draws Attention in D.C."}}]}] ```