Gilded statue in DC mocks Trump for ‘dodging’ Vietnam war draft over bone spurs

A new statue mocking Donald Trump was installed on Washington’s National Mall on Monday, this time poking fun at bone spurs that the US president was diagnosed with, which allowed him to defer the Vietnam war draft.Just two days before Veterans Day, the gilded statue – titled The Foot Soldier – appeared near the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden. Created by the Secret Handshake, a group of anonymous artists, the statue depicts Trump sitting down while rubbing his bare foot.“We honor the service and sacrifice of our commander in chief, Donald J Trump. He’s a soldier in spirit who marched to the front lines of dodging the draft, armed with a perfect diagnosis of bone spurs,” a plaque on the statue reads.A statue mocking Donald Trump’s Vietnam war draft deferments due to a diagnosis of bone spurs is displayed on the National Mall in Washington DC on 9 November 2026. Photograph: Mehmet Eser/Anadolu/Getty ImagesThe art piece refers to allegations that Trump dodged the Vietnam war draft in 1968 by receiving a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels after he graduated from college.“We salute a leader who knows you can’t spell sacrifice without ‘I,’ and a warrior who reminds us that sometimes when you’re called to stand up, it’s best to just sit down and rest your feet,” the plaque read.“Toey”, a 6ft-tall mascot of a toe suffering from bone spurs, stood next to the art installation serving as an interactive element, the Secret Handshake said in a statement.“Draft dodger? I hardly know her,” a person dressed as Toey told the Washington Post. “I’m the biggest toe. The hugest toe. Huge. Hugest toe. Largest toe that anyone’s ever seen.”Trump has faced draft-dodging allegations since his first term. In 2018, the New York Times published an article accusing a foot doctor in Queens of doing “a favor” for Trump’s father by diagnosing Trump with bone spurs. In 2019, Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, told Congress that the president deliberately avoided the draft.A statue mocking Donald Trump’s Vietnam war draft deferments due to a diagnosis of bone spurs is displayed on the National Mall in Washington DC on 9 November 2026. Photograph: Mehmet Eser/Anadolu/Getty ImagesDavid Ingle, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement,: “Trump Derangement Syndrome is a sick and incurable disease that has rotted the brains of these Democrat activists. President Trump will never waver in fighting for and protecting the American people.”The Secret Handshake has also erected statues making fun of Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Trump’s remodeling of the Lincoln bathroom during a government shutdown.Last year, the anonymous group of artists created Best Friends Forever, a statue that showed Trump holding hands with Epstein. In March, the Secret Handshake installed a statue called King of the World, which depicted Trump holding Epstein in a Titanic-inspired pose.The Foot Soldier and Toey will be at the National Mall through Veterans Day, the Secret Handshake said.