Why there’s a giant golden toilet near the Lincoln Memorial

Michelle Del Rey and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY Tue, March 31, 2026 at 10:33 PM UTC

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A towering golden toilet statue has taken a seat near the Lincoln Memorial, the latest Trump‑themed art installation to appear on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

The nearly 10‑foot sculpture, unveiled March 30 by the anonymous group The Secret Handshake, was inspired by President Donald Trump’s recent renovation of the White House’s Lincoln Bathroom. The group says the installation uses humor and spectacle to prompt political discourse.

In an emailed statement to USA TODAY, The Secret Handshake said visitors are allowed to take photos by sitting on the golden throne. The installation is titled “A Throne Fit For a King.”

The statue appeared almost a month after the same group installed a separate sculpture on the National Mall depicting Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as characters from “Titanic.” The group is also behind another Trump‑Epstein statue that appeared in Washington, DC, in September.

A person wearing a MAGA hat sits on a statue featuring a large golden toilet, titled "A Throne Fit for a King," as it is displayed near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 30, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMeaning behind the statue

The Secret Handshake said it created the piece as a tribute to Trump during what it described as a time of “unprecedented division, escalating conflict and economic turmoil.” In that context, the group said, the president focused on what “truly mattered”: remodeling the Lincoln Bathroom.

The statue, the group added, is meant as a reminder that Trump “isn’t just a businessman,” but is “taking care of business.”

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“It’s a tribute to a visionary,” the group said in its statement, “who looked down, saw a problem and painted it gold.”

White House renovations

Trump revealed a marble‑and‑gold makeover of the Lincoln Bathroom in October, according to previous USA TODAY reporting. The cost of the renovation has yet been disclosed.

“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post at the time. He said the bathroom’s previous 1940s art‑deco green tile was “totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.”

The bathroom overhaul is one of several renovation projects Trump has pursued during his second term. Since his inauguration, the president has paved over the Rose Garden lawn, demolished the East Wing and moved forward with plans for a 90,000‑square‑foot ballroom — a project a federal judge ordered halted Tuesday, March 31.

The golden toilet statue, however, is expected to remain on the National Mall for several days, according to The Secret Handshake.

Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Giant golden toilet statue appears near Lincoln Memorial

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