A White House spokesperson said that in America “you have the freedom to display your so-called ‘art,’ no matter how ugly it is” after a statue mocking President Donald Trump and highlighting praise of him from authoritarian leaders was placed on the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Speaking to the Washington Post, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “If these Democrat activists were living in a dictatorship, their eye-sore of a sculpture wouldn’t be sitting on the National Mall right now.”
Is is unclear who the creators of the artwork are.
Why It Matters
Critics of Trump have long argued he has authoritarian impulses, with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris saying during the campaign she believed her opponent was a “fascist” ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Trump strongly denied these claims, and in turn argued Harris was a “threat to democracy.”
What To Know
According to the Washington Post in their request for a National Park Service permit, the creators said the artwork was a response to the June 14 military parade, which Trump attended. The parade took place to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and coincided with Trump’s birthday. Republican Senator Rand Paul said it could look like “images you saw of the Soviet Union or North Korea.”
The new piece of protest art on The Mall is an 8-foot-tall sculpture featuring a reconstruction of the Statue of Liberty’s head being crushed by a large gold-colored thumbs-up, along with the wording “DICTATOR APPROVED” and a series of quotes from leaders with various levels of authoritarian, if not autocratic, tendencies praising Trump.
The quotes featured are from such leaders as Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Putin’s reads: “President Trump is a very bright and talented man.” And Bolsonaro’s: “We do have a great deal of shared values. I admire President Trump.”
Kayla Bartkowski/GETTY
The permit application was issued by one Mary Harris though no further information about her or any other associated artists was provided, according to the Washington Post. It runs until 5 p.m. ET on June 22.
According to the publication, the new sculpture is “very similar in style and materials” to a number of other pieces of protest art that were displayed in locations including the National Mall during the fall of 2024.
One of these featured a bronze reconstruction of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk with a large swiveled turd on top of it along with references to the January 6, 2021, storming of Congress by Trump supporters in a bid to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
A plaque placed on the artwork read: “This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 to loot, urinate and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election.”
What People Are Saying
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “If these Democrat activists were living in a dictatorship, their eye-sore of a sculpture wouldn’t be sitting on the National Mall right now. In the United States of America you have the freedom to display your so-called ‘art,’ no matter how ugly it is.”
Speaking to the Washington Post, Francesca Carlo, a 20-year-old visiting Washington D.C. from Cleveland, said: “If all these authoritarian politicians approve of our president then maybe people will see a pattern recognition and see where democracy is headed.”
On X one user from Harlem, New York, wrote: “New public art that was just installed on the National Mall. The artist, obviously, is brilliant, but an enormous shoutout to the genius who managed to secure a permit in order to erect the statue legally.”
What Happens Next
The “dictator approved” artwork has a permit to remain in its position on the National Mall until June 22. It remains to be seen if other similarly styled works will appear going forward.
