A statue of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands didn’t last long on its roost on the National Mall.
The National Park Service removed it early Wednesday morning, a mere day after it was erected, the Washington Post reported.
“The statue was removed because it was not compliant with the permit issued,” Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace said.
The statue, spray-painted bronze and standing at 12 feet, was titled “Best Friends Forever.”
The statue showed Trump and Epstein holding hands with each having one foot raised behind them. A plaque read, “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.”
A permit for the installation was approved Sept. 16.
The permit application stated the statue was “to demonstrate freedom of speech and artistic expression using political imagery.”
The statue was authorized to stay on the Mall until 8 p.m. Sunday.
This is not the first sculpture criticizing Trump, but it is the first time the government has sought to remove one from the Mall.
Carol Flaisher, a D.C.-based location manager, filed the permit application on behalf of the artists who created the statue.
She said this is the first time a permit has been revoked in her 40 years of working with the Park Service where she arranged installations and filming.
“Superintendent may revoke this permit at any time after providing 24 hours’ written notice to the Permittee setting forth the reasons for the revocation.”
Flaisher said Wednesday she had not received any notice or explanation for the statue being removed.
“This is why our hair is on fire,” Flaisher said. “I did not get 24 hours notice. I got nothing. I got a phone call at 5:30 this morning from our security saying it was being taken down.”
In a video, a National Park Service official is heard saying the sculpture is “out of compliance” because it is several feet larger than stated in the permit.
Flaisher said the height discrepancy was due to the base of the statue not being included in the permit approval.
Flaisher said she was never informed of any issue with the discrepancy.
Many tourists and locals were disappointed at the statue’s removal and the denial of free speech.
“It was depressing. I came here specifically to see the statue,” said Nigel Collie, 68, from Portland, Oregon. “It’s another indication of the deterioration of free speech.”
“I think it’s nuts,” Sara Daimes, 67, said of the removal. She said she saw it as an example of the Trump administration restricting free speech.
“I give big points to the person or group that’s doing” the statues, she said. “I was looking forward to it.”
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The artists produced a series of statues and artworks targeting Trump and his supporters.
For instance, there was an installation set up in June titled “Dictator Approved.” It included statements of support for Trump from authoritarian leaders Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump and Epstein used to be friends, but that friendship went south after a real estate deal in 2004.
Trump commented on their friendship in 2019 when Epstein was arrested on suspicion of sex-trafficking underage girls.
“I had a falling-out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan,” Trump said.
The White House spoke out against the statue Tuesday.
“Liberals are free to waste their money however they see fit — but it’s not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “Democrats, the media, and the organization that’s wasting their money on this statue knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them while President Trump was calling for transparency, and is now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents.”
