The sculpture, titled The Orange Plague, was unveiled Tuesday by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt in the Parliament building in Strasbourg. The 2.6-meter work depicts a nude, gold-leaf-covered Trump perched on a frail man’s shoulders, holding a golf club and scales of justice. A plaque reads: “I am sitting on the back of a man. He is sinking under my burden.”
POLITICO was present at the unveiling, where visitors clamored for miniature replicas of the sculpture, which were distributed in several colors. The statue stands in a prominent spot at the entrance to Parliament’s Winston Churchill building, before the corridor linking MEPs’ and Commission officials’ offices with the plenary chamber.
Galschiøt said the work was intended to confront Trump’s policies and start a debate about how the U.S. president was “destroying the world’s only chance to counter the climate catastrophe.”
Danish left-wing MEP Per Clausen, who invited the artist, defended the installation in a statement. “If someone is so thin-skinned that they cannot tolerate this sculpture … then they have no place on the world stage,” he said.
Fico has cultivated ties with Trump, meeting him at Mar-a-Lago in January to discuss closer cooperation, including civilian nuclear energy. He has praised the MAGA movement as “a vision that urgently resonates not only in the United States but across the world.”
The sculpture was previously displayed at protests in Copenhagen and the COP30 summit in Brazil. It is due to appear at next month’s COP31 conference in Antalya, Türkiye.
Trump has not commented on the installation.
Gerardo Fortuna contributed to this report.