A gold-painted statue of President Donald Trump grimacing and clutching his right foot appeared on the National Mall on November 9, 2026, just two days before Veterans Day.
The installation, titled The Foot Soldier,
stands near the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden, specifically positioned on Madison Drive NW between Seventh and Ninth streets. It was erected by The Secret Handshake, an anonymous group of artists that has previously placed more than a dozen satirical monuments around Washington, D.C.
A plaque on the granite pedestal offers a sarcastic tribute to the president’s military record.
Trump has been honored with a new statue on the National Mall! The Foot Soldier depicts the draft dodger and his bone spurs. From the Secret Handshake. pic.twitter.com/qwPtzDXg9M
We honor the service and sacrifice of our Commander in Chief, Donald J. Trump. He’s a soldier in spirit, who marched to the front lines of dodging the draft, armed with a perfect diagnosis of bone spurs. We salute a leader who knows you can’t spell sacrifice without ‘I,’ and a warrior who reminds us that sometimes when you’re called to stand up, it’s best to just sit down and rest your feet.
The Secret Handshake, protest art collective
The monument also displays a 2013 quote from Trump stating, I can be very military,
which was originally taken from a Facebook post featuring the 80-year-old president with his parents at the New York Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1964. After graduating in 1968, he was classified as eligible for military service before receiving a medical disqualification later that year, which he attributed to bone spurs in his heels.
Surviving Selective Service records confirm the disqualification while leaving the medical reason unspecified. In 2018, two daughters of a Queens podiatrist told The New York Times that their father had supplied the diagnosis as a favor to Trump’s father, who owned the building where he practiced, though The Times found no documentation to corroborate their account.
Omg https://t.co/HqQK1tPHrm
The Secret Handshake has utilized the National Mall for numerous other high-profile protest installations. Their past works include a golden toilet outside the Lincoln Memorial, a 2025 sculpture of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands titled Best Friends Forever,
and another piece featuring Trump and Epstein recreating the bow-of-the-ship scene from Titanic.
In July, the group created a playable video game titled Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell
focused on presidential choices like ordering a Diet Coke or bombing Iran. The art collective explained that their latest piece serves as commentary on ongoing military conflicts.
The group added a live, interactive element to one of their displays. The mascot stated that their pronouns are big
and toe
and entertained onlookers by declaring themselves the biggest toe. The hugest toe. Huge. Hugest toe.
Draft dodger? I hardly know her.
Toey, costumed mascot
Throughout the morning, tourists, runners, and curious passersby gathered around the display. Stephanie Farrell, a 58-year-old visitor from New Jersey, described the installation as funny-sad.
Martin Lowenfish, 58, praised the work for being subversive and stated that the administration has provided an awesome era for punk rock expression.
Jonathan Myers, who was visiting from Florida, said dodging the draft is a major topic and viewed the installation as proof that the public can criticize leaders. Mariano, another visitor, brought a Yorkie terrier named Bo that showed a distinct interest in the toe mascot, with the owner remarking that it looked like something the dog chews on in their apartment.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle defended the administration in a statement, saying that Trump will never waver in fighting for and protecting the American people.
The statue and mascot are scheduled to remain on the National Mall through Veterans Day on November 11, 2026.