Topline<\/p>\n
The same anonymous protest art group behind a viral statue that went up weeks ago depicting President Donald Trump and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein locked in a \u201cTitanic\u201d-inspired embrace has launched a new monument on The National Mall that skewers Trump featuring a gilded toilet. <\/p>\n
An art installation titled “A Throne Fit for a King” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Nick Reimann\/ForbesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Named “A Throne Fit for a King,” the new 10-foot-tall sculpture<\/a> of a marble-esque throne near the Lincoln Monument has a gold toilet that can be sat upon by passersby, and includes a plaque that references Trump’s much-mocked remodeling of the Lincoln Bedroom bathroom<\/a> in the White House, calling it his “crowning achievement.” <\/p>\n The anonymous artist group known only as The Secret Handshake claimed<\/a> to be behind the installation in an email to ARTnews and said it would be on display for several days. <\/p>\n The plaque claims the statue “stands as a tribute to an unwavering visionary who looked down, saw a problem, and painted it gold.\u201d<\/p>\n “A Throne Fit for a King” on the National Mall on March 30, 2026. <\/p>\n Nick Reimann\/ForbesWhy Trump Was Slammed For Bathroom Renovation<\/p>\n Trump was widely criticized in October after revealing he’d overseen the renovation of the White House’s historic Lincoln Bedroom bathroom. He shared before and after images on social media showing the bathroom had been redone in a marble-and-gold aesthetic. At the time, Trump said<\/a> the room had been last renovated in the 1940s in an Art Deco style “which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.” He claimed the new look was \u201cvery appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln.\u201d He was immediately hit with criticism for posting about the renovation during a government shutdown, and slammed by those claiming his renovation was historically inaccurate. <\/p>\n What Else Has The Secret Handshake Done? <\/p>\n The anonymous art group is also responsible for other pieces briefly installed at the National Mall in recent months, including “Best Friends Forever,” a statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands, a massive replica<\/a> of a birthday note and crude drawing sent to Epstein and signed by Trump and “King of the World,\u201d the Trump\/Epstein \u201cTitanic\u201d-inspired statue. \u201cBest Friends Forever\u201d was a 12-foot piece erected during \u201cFriendship Month\u201d in September and, despite being permitted by the National Park Service, was removed without notice the same week it went up. Carol Flaisher, a D.C. location manager who was hired by The Secret Handshake to manage the installation, told USA Today<\/a> the removal was the first time she’d had such a problem with a permitted piece and called the day the statue came down “unbelievable.” The Trump\/Epstein \u201cTitanic\u201d-inspired statue<\/a> went up on March 12 alongside a slew of banners bearing a photo of Trump and Epstein taken in 1997. The plaque installed with the statue, named “The King of the World,” read: “The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. This monument honors the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches.\u201d <\/p>\n “A Throne Fit for a King” on the National Mall on March 30, 2026. <\/p>\n Nick Reimann\/ForbesWhat We Don\u2019t Know <\/p>\n If The Secret Handshake is responsible for the \u201cJeffrey Epstein Walk of Shame<\/a>\u201d art installation in Farragut Square, a public park close to the White House. That installation features the names of celebrities mentioned in the Epstein files, including Bill Gates, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Harvey Weinstein and Les Wexner, on Hollywood Walk of Fame-style stars in the ground. <\/p>\n “America,” the toilet cast from more than 100 kilograms of solid 18-karat gold, by Maurizio Cattelan displayed during a press preview at Sotheby’s on November 07, 2025 in New York.<\/p>\n Getty ImagesTangent<\/p>\n The golden toilet at the center of the new art installation is reminiscent of a functioning toilet made of 18-karat gold by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan. His work, titled “America<\/a>,” was created in 2016 as a commentary on the wealth gap in the United States and was later famously connected to Trump’s first term in office. The administration reportedly requested a loan of one of the Guggenheim Museum’s Vincent van Gogh paintings to hang in Trump’s living quarters and, in its denial of the request, the museum instead offered to loan him the golden toilet. Whether or not White House responded to the offer is unknown. <\/p>\n Big Number<\/p>\n $12.1 million. That\u2019s how much a twin to the golden toilet once offered to Trump sold for at auction<\/a> last year. <\/p>\n Further ReadingForbesTrump Reveals Photos Of Remodeled Lincoln Bathroom\u2014Latest White House RenovationBy Conor Murray<\/a>ForbesA Famous Golden Toilet Once Offered To Trump Sold For $12.1 MillionBy Mary Whitfill Roeloffs<\/a>