The gold-painted replica of Trump could 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.
A plaque at the statue’s base 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 Trump and Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties and secret nude sketches”.
The statue, which appeared March 10 and showed Trump gazing at Epstein as he held his outstretched arms, was the latest in a series of satirical statues that have appeared in Washington since October 2024, just before the presidential election. Many of the installations, including this one influenced by the movie “Titanic” and Trump’s friendship with Epstein, were created by an anonymous group of artists called The Secret Handshake.
An artist from The Secret Handshake told The New York Times that the group began brainstorming ways they could depict Trump as a king, and landed on perhaps the most memorable line in the film, when Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) shouts off the ship’s bow, “I’m the king of the world!” Add the iconic pose, which Jack replicated later in the movie with Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), and the statue, titled “The King of the World”, was a cheeky way of drawing attention to the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, the artist said.
The statue was permitted to be on the National Mall, which is overseen by the National Park Service, through Friday, the artist said.
In an email to The New York Times, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, called the artists “wealthy Democrat donors” who should create statues of Democratic lawmakers who solicited money and meetings from Epstein after he was convicted of sex crimes.
Liverpool required a comeback victory if they are to keep their Champions League campaign alive as they hosted Galatasaray – who held a 1-0 advantage – on Wednesday.
What was potentially a tough task turned out very easy for the Reds as they took firm control in the return leg and scored 4-0 to give them an aggregate 4-1 win over the Turkish side.
It was a set-piece in the 25th minute which broke the deadlock, and a clever one at that. Alexis Mac Allister drilled a low outswinger to the penalty spot where Dominik Szoboszlai, the usual set-piece taker, ran in from the edge of the area to steer home left-footed his 12th of the season.
And then, Liverpool scored three goals in the space of 11 second-half minutes to put the tie to bed.
Mohamed Salah supplied a low cross for Hugo Ekitike to slot home in the fifty-first minute and just two minutes later, he hit a shot that was too much for the Galatasaray goalkeeper to handle, resulting in a goal for Ryan Gravenberch from the rebound.
Salah's turn as scorer came next when in the 62nd minute, he came inside on his left foot and whipped a beauty into the top corner for his 50th Champions League goal.
It was hard to believe that this same side struggled to score across 180 minutes against Galatasaray in Istanbul, and put in a dull display against Tottenham on the weekend.
Liverpool head into the quarter-finals to set up a reunion with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight – and they thoroughly deserve it on this performance!
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