{"id":508085,"date":"2026-04-02T01:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508085\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T01:29:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:29:25","slug":"new-sculpture-of-trump-with-his-golden-dome-is-up-at-national-mall-and-was-created-by-ben-jerrys-co-founder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508085\/","title":{"rendered":"New sculpture of Trump with his \u2018Golden Dome\u2019 is up at National Mall and was created by Ben & Jerry\u2019s co-founder"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A new sculpture mocking President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cGolden Dome\u201d missile defense system<\/a> has appeared on the National Mall<\/a> in Washington D.C., created by one of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream.<\/p>\n

The installation, which was put up Wednesday morning, features a satirical statue of the president<\/a> holding a hole-riddled golden dome like an umbrella as water streams from model missiles overhead.<\/p>\n

Trump<\/a> announced plans for an ambitious new missile-defense initiative dubbed the \u201cGolden Dome<\/a>\u201d last year which he said would shield the nation using a network of space-based sensors and interceptors.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ve heard about the guy talking about the Golden Dome<\/a>. Well, he had it wrong. It’s really a hole-den dome. That’s right, lots of holes in the dude’s golden dome,\u201d ice cream mogul Ben Cohen said in a video promoting the project Tuesday.<\/p>\n

According to the group behind the installation, which features a number of experts and advocates, the holes symbolize a defense system that fails under real-world conditions. <\/p>\n

\"AA new sculpture mocking Donald Trump\u2019s \u2018Golden Dome\u2019 missile defense system has appeared on the National Mall in Washington D.C., created by one of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream (John Bowden\/ The Independent)<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is wasting hundreds of billions of our money on a magical invisible shield that is a physical impossibility. The Golden Dome defense system will NOT work!\u201d Cohen, 75, wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n

At a press conference following the statue\u2019s unveiling Wednesday, speakers highlighted concerns that the \u201cGolden Dome\u201d proposal relied on unproven technology and could trigger a new global arms race. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith an estimated cost of more than $4 trillion, advocates argue that resources would be better used to help working families struggling with the rising cost of housing, health care, and education,\u201d spokesperson Edward Erikson said.<\/p>\n

\"AccordingAccording to the group behind the installation, which features a number of experts and advocates, the holes symbolize a defense system that fails under real-world conditions (John Bowden\/ The Independent)\"AtAt a press conference following the statue\u2019s unveiling Wednesday, speakers highlighted concerns that the \u2018Golden Dome\u2019 proposal relied on unproven technology and could trigger a new global arms race (John Bowden\/ The Independent)<\/p>\n

Estimates from the Federal News Network<\/a> suggest that the defense system could cost up to $3.6 trillion.<\/p>\n

When contacted for comment by The Independent, White House<\/a> spokesman Davis Ingle said: \u201cTrump Derangement Syndrome is a sick and incurable disease that has rotted the brains of many people. President Trump will never waver in fighting for and protecting the American people.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump unveiled plans for his Golden Dome System \u2013 an ambitious new missile-defense initiative, capable of detecting, tracking and intercepting ICBMs \u2013 in May last year, claiming at the time it would be fully operational by 2029.<\/p>\n

But as of February this year, the project has barely got off the ground, due in part to the White House\u2019s holding back of billions in congressionally approved funds, meaning industry leaders haven\u2019t been able to ramp up their work on the project, insiders and ex-defense department staffers told Politico.<\/p>\n

\"TrumpTrump unveiled plans for his Golden Dome System \u2013 an ambitious new missile-defense initiative, capable of detecting, tracking and intercepting ICBMs \u2013 in May last year, claiming at the time it would be fully operational by 2029 (REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Because the administration hasn\u2019t tapped the $23 billion in funds approved for the defensive architecture, the Pentagon has instead relied on doling out piecemeal contracts to begin developing the space-based interceptors, sources told Politico.<\/p>\n

Cohen and his fellow Ben & Jerry\u2019s co-founder, Jerry Greenfield, have long been vocal advocates of social justice causes, something they aligned with their brand and claimed that British company Unilever would respect following its purchase of Ben & Jerry\u2019s in 2000.<\/p>\n

Since then the pair has fallen out with Unilever, with Greenfield resigning as a brand ambassador in September last year, and Cohen accusing the company of \u201ccorporate butt kissing\u201d to Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-508085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}