Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
Donald Trump has heaped praise onto a new gold statue built in his honour, saying the icon would eventually become a “landmark”.
The 22ft likeness at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club in Florida was dedicated to the U.S. president by a group of religious leaders last week, drawing mixed reactions from golfers.
While some praised the statue, others were less convinced, with one player declaring: “I wouldn’t put one in my home.”
“It’s his course. It’s his property… It’s not my thing.” continued the woman, only identified by her first name Andrea. If Trump wanted to put up a statue “with a piece of bacon on his head,” he could do that, too, she told the Washington Post.
Writing on Truth Social on Friday, Trump showered his “political supporters” with adoration, calling them “very good people”.
“Those playing the Blue Monster, at Doral, are absolutely in love with it. Congratulations to all involved. With time, it will become a Landmark!” he said.
The statue of President Donald Trump near the ninth tee at Trump National Doral Miami on April 30 (Getty)
Pastor Mark Burns, a longtime Trump supporter who presided over the ceremony, said Trump was originally scheduled to attend the May 6 ceremony in person, but apparently changed his plans amid backlash from his base for posting, and later deleting, an AI-generated image of him resembling Jesus Christ.
Burns took to social media to insist the statue was not a form of idolatry.
“Let me be clear: this is not a golden calf,” he wrote. “This statue is a celebration of life. It is a symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, strength, and the will power to keep fighting for the future of America.”
Pressed on the matter in a recent interview with The New Yorker, Pastor Burns said the statue was “no different from a Michael Jordan statue”.
“I’m very close to the President, but I don’t know anybody in my circle who worships or honors Donald Trump as a god or any kind of deity,” he said.
“President Trump had nothing to do with the statue, as you and the media keep trying to portray that he did.”
The statue — which rises 15 feet atop a 7-foot base — was commissioned and bankrolled by a collective of crypto investors seeking to boost visibility for their memecoin, $PATRIOT, according to The Daily Beast.
It depicts the president with his fist in the air, similar to a pose photograph during the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus after bashing Pope Leo (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)
Trump last month faced criticism from Catholic and political allies for sharing an AI image that appeared to depict him as Jesus.
The image shared to his Truth Social platform depicted Trump tending to the sick, wearing white and red robes, with light emanating from his hands. He later said he was portraying a doctor, not Jesus.
“I thought it was me as a doctor,” he said of the post, which he deleted after an outcry. “Only the fake news could come up with that.”