A 10-foot-tall, gold-colored trophy mocking US President Donald Trump’s involvement in the Iran war appeared on the National Mall on Monday.
The anonymous protest art collective the Secret Handshake installed the “Iran War Participation Trophy” near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial bookstore, a short distance south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The trophy cup has a large “#1” on its face, while the word “Participant” appears in raised capital letters on its base.
A plaque says the trophy recognizes Trump’s “enthusiastic involvement in the Iran War” and his “courage to participate regardless of the final score.”
It compares the president to children who receive recognition for “simply showing up” and is signed by the “Secret Handshake Prize Committee.”
A second plaque invites members of the public to leave their own trophies at the installation, saying that no accomplishment is too small or unearned to be bestowed upon Trump.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly dismissed the artists and defended the administration’s handling of the war.
Kelly said the group should “refrain from weighing in on foreign policy” and argued that the US military “achieved all of its objectives during Operation Epic Fury,” The Washington Post reported.
The installation follows Trump’s receipt of FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize from FIFA president Gianni Infantino in December 2025.
It also appeared days after Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery received preliminary approval from the National Capital Planning Commission. The planned structure would be located near the Virginia end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, opposite the Lincoln Memorial.
The Secret Handshake has installed several other satirical works targeting Trump.
Its previous pieces include “Best Friends Forever,” a 2025 sculpture depicting Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands, and “King of the World,” a nearly 12-foot-tall, gold-painted sculpture showing the pair recreating the bow scene from the film Titanic.
The collective also created “A Throne Fit for a King,” a 10-foot-tall sculpture featuring a golden toilet. The work mocked Trump’s renovations to the Lincoln Bedroom bathroom and other White House changes.
Trump has said that he ended his association with Epstein years before Epstein’s 2019 death and has denied writing a birthday message attributed to him.
Trump did not respond directly to the installation.
