The anonymous artists behind The Secret Handshake, the guerrilla public art statue of President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, are at it again. On Tuesday, the group emailed ARTnews with photos of a new statue placed in Washington, D.C., again depicting Trump and Epstein.
Titled KING OF THE WORLD, the 12-foot tall statue depicts the US president embracing Epstein in the now iconic pose of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the 1997 film Titanic. A plaque below the statue makes the connection explicit, reading: “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.”
On either side of the statue, which is placed across the US Capitol building on 3rd Street West between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive, are 10 banners honoring Trump and Epstein. Why? “Because 2026 has been a banner year for President Trump,” the email explains. “Meaning…he’s added giant banners of his face to federal buildings all across DC. We want to help him on his mission by tossing a few of our own in the mix.”
Since the start of Trump’s second presidential administration, there have been calls for transparency from both the right and left around investigations into Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender with ties to the wealthy, famous, and powerful, from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to the Clintons. Those calls reached a fever pitch in November when Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In the months since, millions of documents have been released to the public from the FBI files, which stark consequences for many with ties to Epstein. Among those forced to step down are numerous figures in the art world.
