[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iranparticpationtrophy.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tPresident Donald Trump has made no secret of his love for all things gold\u2014the larger and glitzier the better. So visitors this week to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., who happened upon a 10-foot-tall, golden \u201cIran War Participation Trophy\u201d dedicated to the president, can be forgiven for initially thinking it was a legitimate monument installed by the current administration.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI thought it was serious because there are so many ridiculous things happening that it\u2019s hard to tell,\u201d said Gayl Staver, 75, speaking to the Washington Post<\/em>, which reported on the appearance of the sculpture on Monday morning near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. \u201cOf course he would want something like this,\u201d Staver added. \u201cI\u2019m surprised he\u2019s not here taking his photo with it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut this time, earnest observers were mistaken. The statue is an artwork by the anonymous satirical art collective the Secret Handshake, which told TIME<\/em> that the statue will remain in place \u201cfor the next several days.\u201d They added it was \u201can attempt to de-escalate the conflict through positive reinforcement.\u201d\u00a0 The group was behind several similarly cheeky anti-Trump installations around the capital, including statues alluding to Trump\u2019s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n \n\tTheir latest creation is in the form of a giant trophy embossed with #1 on one side, and the word \u201cparticipant\u201d at the base. A plaque below, dripping in stinging irony, reads: \u201cWe hereby award President Donald J. Trump this participation trophy for his enthusiastic involvement in the Iranian War. While some concern themselves with military strategy, diplomacy, or measurable outcomes, President Trump demonstrated the courage to participate regardless of the final score.\u201d It adds: \u201cPresident Trump joins the ranks of children everywhere who received recognition for simply showing up. We join you in celebrating this remarkable achievement.\u201d The plaque is signed, \u201cWith honor, the Secret Handshake Prize Committee.\u201d Nearby, another message invites visitors to add their own trophies to the interactive project.<\/p>\n \n\tIf one goal was to ruffle Trump\u2019s feathers, the stunt has arguably succeeded. \u201cThese untalented \u2018artists\u2019 should stick to their ugly \u2018art\u2019 and refrain from weighing in on foreign policy\u2014which they clearly know nothing about, given the fact that the United States Military achieved all of its objectives during Operation Epic Fury,\u201d stated White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly in response.<\/p>\n \n\tKelly\u2019s last assertion, however, is questionable at best. Following a month-old cease-fire, the US and Iran exchanged strikes today for the fifth consecutive day as both sides battle for control of the critical Strait of Hormuz, with no signs of either side backing down. This, despite Democratic lawmakers\u2019 recent attempts to restrict the president\u2019s ability to continue waging war in the region without Congressional approval.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/trump-mock-iran-war-participation-trophy-art-installation-1234792275\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iranparticpationtrophy.jpg?w=1024″] President Donald Trump has made no secret of his love for all things gold\u2014the larger and glitzier the better. So visitors this week to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., who happened upon a 10-foot-tall, golden \u201cIran War Participation Trophy\u201d dedicated to the president, can be forgiven for initially thinking it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2046178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2046178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2046178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2046178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2046178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}