‘King of Injustice’: Golden naked Trump statue installed at European Parliament

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🗞️ Driving the news: A provocative 8.5-foot statue of Donald Trump, covered in 23-karat gold leaf and titled The Orange Plague, has been installed inside the European Parliament in Strasbourg
• Created by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt, the sculpture depicts Trump naked, holding a golf club and scales of justice while sitting on a smaller figure.

🔭 The context: The installation was sponsored by Danish MEP Per Clausen and approved by the Parliament’s quaestors under rules governing cultural exhibitions
• The approval does not constitute institutional endorsement
• Galschiøt says the work draws on The Emperor’s New Clothes and is intended as a critique of political power, injustice and what he sees as threats to the environment and the rules-based international order.

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Climate politics are part of the artist’s stated criticism of Trump
• Galschiøt previously displayed the sculpture at COP30 and plans to take it to COP31, keeping climate policy and political power at the centre of the artwork’s message

⏭️ What’s next: The temporary exhibition is expected to remain in Parliament until Thursday, accompanied by more than 1,000 3D-printed miniatures distributed as “protest tokens”
• The sculpture is also scheduled to appear at COP31 in Antalya next month

💬 One quote: “Trump is destroying all the things I believe in,” said artist Jens Galschiøt

📈 One stat: The sculpture stands 8.5 feet (2.6 metres) tall and is covered in 23-karat gold leaf

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