Why was a 22-foot gold statue of Trump unveiled at his Florida golf resort?

A towering gold statue of US President Donald Trump was unveiled at his golf resort in Doral during a dramatic dedication ceremony led by Evangelical pastor Mark Burns. The 22-foot statue, placed on a pedestal amid palm trees at Trump National Doral Miami, depicts Trump raising his fist in the air, mirroring the gesture he made after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The sculpture was revealed before a crowd of invited guests seated around the display.

The statue, draped in white and blue fabric resembling a Greek toga before its unveiling, was praised by Burns as a symbol of “resilience, freedom, patriotism, strength, and the will power to keep fighting for the future of America”.

“Let me be clear: this is not a golden calf,” Burns said during the ceremony, rejecting comparisons to idol worship. He added that the monument represented “a celebration of life” and suggested it stood as proof that God was protecting Trump after multiple assassination attempts.

At one point during the event, Burns held his mobile phone to the microphone so attendees could hear Trump address the gathering remotely. “I want to thank Mark Burns, a pastor, he’s a good pastor, he's a good man,” Trump said. “I’ve known him a long time; he’s been with me from the beginning.”

“I want to thank everybody there,” he added. “I know it was done from love.” According to reports by The Daily Beast, the statue was funded by a group of cryptocurrency investors promoting their memecoin, $PATRIOT. Sculptor Alan Cottrill told The Times earlier this year that he had agreed to create the bronze sculpture for $300,000 and later suggested coating it in gold leaf after payment delays.

Cottrill said the proposal was met with enthusiastic support from the investors. However, he also claimed he withheld the statue in a warehouse until he received the full agreed payment. The investors later disputed the claim, saying in a statement that the sculpture had been “paid in full a year ago” and praising Cottrill’s work on what they called a “historic statue”.

The installation is among several recent sculptures featuring Trump that have appeared across the United States. Other controversial works displayed near the US Capitol included “Best Friends Forever”, portraying Trump alongside late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and “King of the World”, which depicted the pair recreating a famous pose from Titanic. Both artworks, commissioned by protest group Secret Handshake, were later removed.