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

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/gilded-statue-in-dc-mocks-trump-for-dodging-vietnam-war-draft-over-bone-spurs/
- Published: 2026-11-10T15:12:28+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T16:11:19+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/10/trump-toe-statue-dc-vietnam-war-draft
- Topics: Americas, Government, Politics, World

## Key points

- A statue on the National Mall mocks Trump’s Vietnam draft deferment.
- The work satirises his bone-spur diagnosis.
- It is due to remain through Veterans Day.

## Summary

A gilded statue mocking Donald Trump’s Vietnam War draft deferment was installed on Washington’s National Mall shortly before Veterans Day. The work, titled *The Foot Soldier*, satirises his bone-spur diagnosis and draws attention to longstanding allegations that he avoided military service.

Created by the anonymous artists’ group Secret Handshake, the statue shows Trump sitting and rubbing his bare foot, beside a six-foot toe mascot called Toey. Its plaque jokes that Trump was a “soldier in spirit” who marched to the front lines of dodging the draft. Trump received a bone-spur diagnosis after graduating from college and deferred the draft in 1968; the White House dismissed the installation as the work of Democratic activists. The artists said it would remain on the Mall through Veterans Day.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.