Activists are determined to spoil Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom this week — one Jeffrey Epstein photo at a time.
Less than 24 hours ahead of his arrival at Windsor Castle, a supersized photo of the president with the convicted sexual predator was unveiled on the tree-lined property outside the royal residence yesterday, September 15. The massive banner display, which has since been removed, was carried out by the UK-based anti-billionaire collective Everyone Hates Elon as part of a crowd-funded campaign to plaster the notorious image of Trump and Epstein “all over the UK” in time for his historic state visit.
“[This image is] the last thing Trump wants the world to see,” reads a description in the online fundraiser, which has so far garnered at least £32,016 (~$43,729) from hundreds of supporters. “So let’s put it everywhere he goes and make sure the media can’t avoid it – it’ll be the defining image of the state visit he’s so looking forward to.”
This month, the group also installed unofficial bus stop ads by the US Embassy in London, spoof commemorative dishware in the Windsor Castle Gift Shop, and a parody memorial plaque on a bench on Trump’s Aberdeen golf course in Scotland.
The anti-billionaire collective affixing a parody memorial plaque to Epstein on a bench on Trump’s Aberdeen golf course. (reel via @everyonehateselon_ on Instagram)
The trolling comes amid intensifying scrutiny over the president’s relationship with Epstein, which was exacerbated last week when the United States House Oversight Committee released a vulgar note supposedly penned by Trump that was part of a salacious birthday album gifted to the disgraced financier by his former assistant and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The book contained hundreds of crude poems, drawings, photos, and messages bearing the alleged signatures of Epstein’s close friends, including Museum of Modern Art Trustee Leon Black and Wexner Center for the Arts financier Leslie Wexner.
“Trump’s supporters are tearing themselves apart over the Epstein files. Now he’s hoping to escape it all to have tea with the King,” a spokesperson for Everyone Hates Elon said in a press statement.
Aimed at deepening US relations with one of the country’s closest allies, Trump’s trip is expected to involve copious amounts of grandeur and flattery on behalf of the UK government, much like his first state visit in 2019.
Hyperallergic has reached out to the Windsor Castle press office for comment.
A satirical commemorative plate featuring Jeffrey Epstein and US President Donald Trump is seen among souvenirs in a gift shop in Windsor, England. (photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
The spokesperson for Everyone Hates Elon said that the collective intends “to make sure Epstein haunts him everywhere he goes.”
Earlier this summer, the group was partially responsible for a massive banner in Venice targeting Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’s opulent destination wedding plans. The historic canal-lined city has been increasingly plagued by rising sea levels from climate change.
“There’s no way we’re letting [Trump] use our country to polish his image,” the spokesperson for Everyone Hates Elon said.
For their next action, the group is potentially planning to parade the photo of Trump and Epstein with an ad van. But as far as details for that plan go, a group member simply told Hyperallergic to “keep your eyes peeled.”
