A Gold Statue Turns Trump’s Draft Deferment Into Veterans Day Satire
A gilded statue of President Donald Trump appeared on the National Mall on Monday, two days before Veterans Day. Titled “The Foot Soldier,” it shows Trump seated, grimacing and holding his bare right foot. A plaque beneath the figure turns his Vietnam-era draft deferments into a joke. It casts him as a soldier who advanced by staying out of combat. The installation stood close to the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden. The anonymous artists behind it call themselves the Secret Handshake. They said it would remain in place through Veterans Day. The work drew tourists, local residents and reporters to the Mall. The first report on its appearance described the crowd gathering around it.
The plaque’s satire rests on a documented outline of Trump’s draft history in the reports. He received five deferments in the Vietnam era, four for education and one connected to a bone-spur diagnosis. The diagnosis has long been disputed in public accounts. A report recounts claims published in 2018 about a Queens foot doctor. It also cites testimony in 2019 by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who alleged deliberate avoidance of service. Those are allegations, not findings established by the reports here. The statue does not settle the question. It turns the controversy into an image: a president on a pedestal, sitting down when the inscription says he was called to stand.
The plaque adds a line from a 2013 Trump statement: “I can be very military.” Its other language is a string of barbs about sacrifice, self-interest and resting one’s feet. Nearby, a person in a six-foot toe costume, identified as Toey, performed for visitors. The costumed figure joked about draft avoidance. It also adopted Trump-like boasts about being exceptionally large. The person declined to give a real name, citing concern about retaliation and a wish to keep the performance anonymous. One visitor called the installation funny but sad. Another, a former Air Force servicemember, said military service should matter for a president. A local resident described it as satire and an exercise of free expression.
The White House answered with a statement from spokesperson Davis Ingle. He accused the artists of suffering from what he called “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” He also said Trump would continue protecting Americans. The group replied that it welcomed the diagnosis. It then argued that the diagnosis did not excuse the president from the consequences of military action. Its statement also contrasted the bone-spur deferment with the administration’s current posture toward war. One report says the group referred specifically to Iran, which it described as a conflict Trump had initiated in February. That characterization comes from the artists’ statement as reported. The other accounts do not develop the issue or provide more detail about the conflict.
The Foot Soldier is not the collective’s first Washington installation aimed at Trump. Earlier works included sculptures depicting him with Jeffrey Epstein. Among them was a Titanic-inspired tableau called “King of the World.” Other projects mocked Trump’s conduct and political record. The artists’ identities remain undisclosed. According to one account, they used a representative to secure permits from the National Park Service. The latest piece fits a familiar pattern: anonymous political art placed in a highly visible civic setting. Tourists can encounter it without seeking out a gallery. Its brief run on the Mall is part of the statement. The National Mall is a place of national memory. The piece uses that setting to argue about who deserves to be honored, and on what terms.
The reports differ on the statue’s material. They describe it variously as golden, gilded or bronze, so the safest description is the gold-colored installation seen by visitors. They agree on its central image, location, title and the presence of Toey. They also agree that the work was scheduled to remain through Veterans Day, rather than become a permanent monument. That planned departure leaves the argument to viewers: is the sculpture sharp political satire, an insult to the president, or both? Its appearance also belongs to a wider contest over monuments and presidential self-presentation. That includes the dispute over Trump’s proposed Washington arch and who should pay for such memorials (the debate over presidential monuments).
For my part, the toe costume is the detail I will remember. It is absurd, which is precisely why people stopped to look. Beneath the joke is a more serious question: how does a country weigh a leader’s record against the service expected of others?
The statue’s immediate next step is straightforward. According to the artists, it was to stay on the Mall through November 11, Veterans Day, and then leave. The controversy around it may last longer. The installation has joined the continuing argument over Trump’s military deferments, his public image and the role of protest art in Washington. The reports do not establish whether the disputed diagnosis was medically justified. Nor do they indicate any official response beyond the White House statement. They show a temporary artwork making a familiar political dispute visible again. It appeared on a day when the country turns its attention toward military service and sacrifice. Related arguments over Trump’s planned arch have also focused on the place of presidential monuments in Washington (the arch’s approval process).
Reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, Raw Story, The Guardian.
