Unflattering 25-foot Trump statue with right arm raised appears in Melania's home country Slovenia
First Lady Melania Trump's hometown in Slovenia has reportedly built a statue of President Donald Trump. Reports stated the statue, made of wood and nearly 25 feet tall, suddenly emerged on private land in the village of Sela pri Kamniku, about 20 miles northeast of the capital, Ljubljana.
The president, however, may not like the statue which vaguely resembles a Christmas nutcracker, with a square head, jaw, wearing a blue suit and a bright red tie, standing with a fierce look in his blue eyes, his right arm raised straight up in the air with a clenched fist. Reports stated the man who designed the statue was interviewed on a local television station and said the structure was meant to show Trump in the style of Superman or the Statue of Liberty.
When triggered, a mechanism opens a red-painted mouth and shark-like teeth appear.
Meanwhile, a group of local young people, who helped the artist in constructing the structure said the statue was meant as "a provocation because the world is full of populism," according to the Independent. A former member of the Slovenian parliament and author who has written about Melania Trump, Igor Omerza, said Wednesday the statue could be interpreted in varied ways — either the raised hand of Lady Liberty or the iron fist of a populist dictator.
Omerza added the statue was perhaps the sign of Slovenia’s “love-hate” relationship with Trump. "Trump is always in the news," Omerza said. "I don’t believe the young people in this village who built this are in favor of him."
He also said the local people did not tell him of the statue, adding that most of them do not take a liking to Trump, including the landowner where the statue currently sits. “They did not tell me what they were doing, and in October I will force them to take the statue down,” he told local television.
The statue has a temporary permit and has to be removed by Halloween, October 31. Some local villagers, unhappy with its appearance, suggest torching it that day.
Reports stated the statue is said to be looking in the direction of Sevnica, the first lady’s home village, from where she left for the U.S. to embark on a modeling career. Earlier this year, a 9-foot tall statue of Melania Trump also appeared near her home, which was reportedly carved by a local artisan using a chain saw.
The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration. Her face is depicted in a naive local style. (JURE MAKOVEC/AFP/Getty Images)
The statue depicted her wearing the blue dress she wore on Trump's inauguration day and waving with her left arm. The sculptor of the Melania statue, Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, was reportedly commissioned by a Kentucky-born conceptual artist, Brad Downey, who is known for public pranks. Downey, in an interview with The Washington Post, in July said the statue was a serious tribute to the first lady despite many pointing out that it looked like a "scarecrow" or a "Smurfette."
“I can understand why people might think that this falls short as a description of her physical appearance," Downey told Agence France-Presse, however, he insisted he found the end result “absolutely beautiful.”