"Chat is this satire": Netizens react as a statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands seen near U.S. Capitol "In Honor of Friendship Month"

Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's "friendship statue" was spotted on the National Mall in front of the US Capitol on Tuesday morning. The art group, The Secret Handshake Project, has claimed that they made the statue.

The 12-foot bronze colored statue had Trump and the convicted sex offender holding hands while both raised their one leg and one hand. The plaque under the statues stated that it was created to showcase their "long-lasting bond."

"We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his 'closest friend,' Jeffrey Epstein," it stated.

For the unversed, Donald Trump has faced massive criticism after old pictures of him with the controversial public figure resurfaced on the internet.

The President has denied being friends with Jeffrey Epstein. This month, a letter allegedly written by Trump for Epstein's birthday was leaked.

A picture of the "friendship statue" was reuploaded by the X page Pop Base. The tweet went viral, garnering over 85,000 likes.

A bronze statue depicting Donald Trump & Jeffrey Epstein holding hands has appeared near the White House in honor of ‘Friendship Month.’

(📸: Joe Heim https://t.co/zRrJsnkBHI) pic.twitter.com/FXPcQxnqoO

— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 23, 2025

Netizens had a mixed reaction to the statue. While some found it funny, others wondered how it was allowed. One user (@fairyparts) wondered if everyone had gone into psychosis.

"Chat is this satire or has everyone gone deep into psychosis?" they wrote.

Netizens seemingly post the friendship statues as funny, as they praised the maker's trolling skills.

"Whoever made this Trump & Epstein statue… your trolling skills are elite. The location choice? Even better," one netizen wrote.

"The bar for honoring friendships is so low now. I gotta step up and find me someone who at least buys me food before statues get involved," another X user added.

"Lmao doesn't matter what side you on, that's funny," another user wrote.

Some netizens were curious about the artist's background and how they managed to secure the statue's placement in a high-security area. X users noted that someone in security must have approved it.

"Whoever created this knows exactly how to generate controversy. I'd be curious to know the artist's background," one netizen stated.

"Wow cool plaque. This is a legit statue. Someone in charge of security had to ok this, how else could this get by," one X user wrote.

"Who approved the delivery of the statue?" another netizen added.

The White House responded to the viral Trump and Epstein statue

After the statue's pictures went viral on social media platforms, a spokesperson from the White House released a statement to the press. They stated that the President's friendship with the controversial figure is no secret.

However, Donald Trump seemingly "kicked" him out of his social circle after finding out the financier was a "creep." The spokesperson stated that liberals were supposedly wasting their money by making these statues.

They also claimed that everyone knew about the convicted sex traffickers and the victims for years, but no one did anything, and when Trump asked for "transparency," everyone started coming up with documents of his friendship with Epstein.

"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," the spokesperson stated.

USA Today reached out to The Secret Handshake Project, and they shared that the statue was their third anti-Trump statue.

They told the news outlet their goal is to create political conversation with art, irony, and humor.

Another one of their installations went viral. Their thumbs up on a broken Statue of Liberty statue was placed at the same location in June 2025.

As of the time of writing, Donald Trump has not commented on the viral Epstein statue.