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10-foot 'Iran War Participation Trophy' installed on National Mall

artJul 13, 202617870

A 10-foot-tall gold-colored “Iran War Participation Trophy” installed on the National Mall near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial satirically honors President Donald J. Trump for his “enthusiastic involvement in the Iran War,” the plaque reads. The statue, spray-painted gold with “#1” on one side and “Participant” in raised block letters on its base, bears a longer plaque mocking participation without strategy and is signed “With honor, the Secret Handshake Prize Committee.” The anonymous satirical group Secret Handshake, which has previously placed mock installations in Washington including a Trump-and-Jeffrey Epstein statue and a faux Pelosi desk, claimed responsibility while its members declined to identify themselves. A nearby plaque invites visitors to add their own trophies to the display. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly criticized the installation in an email, saying the artists “should stick to their ugly ‘art’” and asserting that the U.S. military “achieved all of its objectives during Operation Epic Fury.” One member of Secret Handshake told reporters the group is willing to give the trophy to Trump if he wants it. The statue sits in a less-visited part of the Mall a short walk from the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and drew mixed reactions from tourists and visitors on Monday.

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