An anonymous artist collective has once again turned the National Mall into a stage for satire, this time presenting President Donald Trump with a towering gold-colored “Iran War Participation Trophy” that stands 10 feet tall near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial bookstore.
The protest group, calling itself the Secret Handshake, installed the mock award on Monday, July 13, and has invited passersby to contribute their own participation trophies to the growing collection at the sculpture’s base. The installation marks the latest in a roughly 18-month campaign of guerrilla art targeting the president, a series that now includes at least a dozen pieces placed on or near the Mall.
A Sarcastic Monument With a Message
The plaque mounted at the statue’s base drips with irony. “We hereby award President Donald J. Trump this participation trophy for his enthusiastic involvement in the Iran war,” it declares, commending the president for showing up regardless of outcomes. The inscription notes that while some focus on strategy, diplomacy, or measurable results, Trump demonstrated the courage to participate no matter the final score, placing him among the ranks of children everywhere who received recognition for simply showing up.
Gayl Staver, a visitor who encountered the trophy Monday morning near the King memorial, remained uncertain how to interpret the piece. The deadpan grandeur of the installation has proven effective at stopping foot traffic, drawing curious crowds and smartphone cameras since its arrival.
In a press release, the collective framed the sculpture as an act of goodwill meant to help wind down the ongoing conflict through what they described as “positive reinforcement.” The group told TIME the statue would remain on the Mall for the next several days and characterized it as an attempt to de-escalate tensions through encouragement rather than criticism.
White House Dismisses the Stunt
The administration responded sharply to the installation. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly dismissed the piece and its creators, arguing that the artists should stay in their lane and leave geopolitics to others. Kelly added that they clearly know nothing about the subject given that the United States military achieved all of its objectives during Operation Epic Fury.
The reference to Operation Epic Fury highlights the sharp divide in how the two sides view the same events. Where the White House points to mission accomplishment, the artists have erected a monument suggesting the scoreboard is beside the point.
An Expanding Collection of Protest Art
Previous Secret Handshake installations have taken increasingly elaborate forms: “Best Friends Forever,” a 2025 sculpture of Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands; “King of the World,” a nearly 12-foot, gold-painted tableau of the pair recreating the bow scene from “Titanic”; and “A Throne Fit for a King,” a 10-foot golden toilet lampooning Trump’s White House bathroom renovations. In May, the collective planted three working 1980s-style arcade games near the District of Columbia War Memorial — one offering players a choice between “order Diet Coke” and “invade Iran.” Like the participation trophy, each was built to be photographed, puzzled over and argued about, then hauled away within days.
The group’s approach trades protest-march intensity for the tone of an end-of-season banquet, a strategy that may explain why the trophy has struck such a nerve among the president’s supporters. Many have viewed it as a cheap shot disguised as public art, while others have treated it as a punchline worth photographing before adding their own miniature trophy to the pile.
With the group saying the piece will remain only a few more days, the window is closing for anyone hoping to see the installation — or contribute their own trophy — before it vanishes from the Mall as quietly as it arrived. Whether the giant gold award truly de-escalates anything or simply escalates the argument over how to discuss the conflict, it has already succeeded at one goal: getting people to stop, read the fine print, and debate what it all means.