Gilded 'Foot Soldier' Statue of Trump Appears on Washington's National Mall

A gilded statue titled The Foot Soldier was installed on Washington's National Mall on 9 November 2026, two days before Veterans Day, the US public holiday for military veterans. The Guardian reported the installation, which stands near the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art.

The statue shows Donald Trump seated and rubbing one of his bare feet. It refers to the bone-spurs diagnosis, a foot condition, that allowed him to defer the Vietnam War draft, the system of compulsory military service, after he graduated from college in 1968.

The work was created by the Secret Handshake, a group of anonymous artists. Beside it stood Toey, a 6-foot-tall mascot depicting a toe suffering from bone spurs, which served as an interactive element of the installation.