Galschiøt’s nude Trump statue goes on show in Strasbourg
The Danish artist was invited by MEP Per Clausen and plans to take the sculpture to the COP31 UN Climate Conference in Antalya, Türkiye.
Danish artist Jens Galschiøt has brought “The Orange Plague”, a 2.6-metre statue portraying Donald Trump nude, to the European Parliament’s Strasbourg building. The figure sits on a smaller man’s back, with an oversized golf club in one hand and scales in the other.
The work takes inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes, according to Galschiøt, who described it as a satirical challenge to Trump’s climate and foreign policies. The artist said the statue is covered in 23-karat gold and has an alternative name, “King of Injustice”.
Left-wing Danish MEP Per Clausen invited Galschiøt and said a possible reaction from Trump did not worry him. Visitors receive miniature versions made by 3D printing. The artist said he had printed around 20,000 of these, with copies distributed among visitors and staff across the Parliament.
Earlier appearances included Copenhagen’s “hands off Greenland” demonstrations and the COP30 UN Climate Summit in Belém, Brazil. Galschiøt plans another exhibition of the statue at the COP31 UN Climate Conference in Antalya, Türkiye, after its display in Strasbourg.
