Policy brief·Strasbourg
Nude golden Trump sculpture goes up inside the European Parliament
Danish artist Jens Galschiot's gilded statue The Orange Plague, showing a naked Donald Trump perched on a struggling figure, is on temporary display at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

A satirical golden sculpture of Donald Trump has been installed inside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in one of the most pointed artworks yet aimed at the American president's climate record. Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot's The Orange Plague, also known as King of Injustice, was unveiled on October 6 and remains on view through the week. The roughly 2.5-meter work is cast in copper and coated in 23-karat gold leaf. It depicts a naked Trump sitting on the shoulders of a much smaller, scrawny man who is buckling under the weight. The figure grips a small set of scales of justice in one hand and a scepter-like golf club in the other, while the golf ball takes the form of a small globe, a jab at what the artist sees as Trump's grip on the world and disregard for the planet's health. Galschiot said the piece references Hans Christian Andersen's tale The Emperor's New Clothes and was made to confront what he called the elephant in the room: the United States, in his view, destroying the world's best chance of countering the climate catastrophe. The plinth carries a message in the voice of the figure: he will do anything to help the man beneath him, except step down from his back. The installation came at the invitation of Danish left-wing MEP Per Clausen, who said he did not fear any reaction from Trump. The sculpture is not new: Galschiot debuted it at the COP30 climate conference in Belem, Brazil, last year and has since shown it in Denmark and Germany, including at the Munich Security Conference. Its week inside the parliament of the European Union gives the work its most prominent stage yet.


