Original title:“Don Colossus”a Golden Statue of President Trump, Waits for Its Home

Original author: David Yaffe-Bellany, The New York Times

Original translation by Luffy, Foresight News

Original title: The Gilded Idol and the Zero-Value MEME Coin: The Absurd Drama Behind the Giant Trump Statue

This statue of President Trump is called "Don Colossus." Standing 15 feet tall on a 7,000-pound pedestal, its overall height is comparable to a two-story building. The colossal statue is cast in bronze and coated with a thick layer of gold leaf. (Note: Don Colossus literally translates to "Don the Giant," referring to Trump as a giant.)

For over a year, this gilded statue has been central to one of the most outlandish cryptocurrency mining schemes of the Trump era. A group of cryptocurrency investors spent $300,000 to commission the statue as a tribute to Trump, who has openly supported cryptocurrency.

Subsequently, they used the statue to promote a Meme coin called PATRIOT.

Now, unexpectedly, the plan appears to be nearing completion. Last month, a pedestal made of concrete and stainless steel was erected at Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida. According to records reviewed by The New York Times, Mark Burns, one of the organizers of the project and a close friend of Trump, told collaborators that the president plans to attend the unveiling ceremony of the statue there.

"This statue looks fantastic," Trump wrote in a letter to Burns last December.

Alan Cottrill inspects his gilded statue of President Trump in Zainsville, Ohio.

Almost everyone in the cryptocurrency space has tried to profit from Trump's presidency: either by making business deals with his family or by seeking deregulation from his administration. But few have acted as boldly as the supporters of PATRIOT.

Meme coins are cryptocurrencies with virtually no practical function other than speculation. They are typically built upon viral internet memes or celebrity images, and their value depends entirely on the price that online fans are willing to pay. The key to building a Meme coin is to generate enough online buzz to convince potential buyers that its price will continue to rise.

Building a giant statue is an expensive way to generate social media buzz, but it's also a potentially lucrative scheme. According to one of the organizers, investors who fund the statue have received large amounts of the token, whose price sometimes skyrockets. For months, Don Colossus supporters have been posting progress photos of the statue's construction on the X platform and forming alliances within the "Make America Great Again" movement, aiming for a marketing triumph: placing the statue on a Trump official property.

In late 2024, PATRIOT Meme was officially launched, coinciding with Trump's promise to make the United States the "crypto capital of the world," causing the token price to surge. During an event held in Washington over the presidential inauguration weekend, supporters of the token presented a bronze miniature statue to Trump's former advisor, Steve Bannon, and interacted with other conservatives.

However, repeated delays and internal conflicts cast a shadow over this gold rush plan, allowing outsiders to glimpse the volatility of the Meme coin market: a market rife with scams where investors often end up losing everything. Last year, PATRIOT's price plummeted, nearly hitting zero. In their efforts to rush the completion of the statue and boost the token, investors even clashed with Ohio-based sculptor Alan Cottrill.

According to text message records reviewed by The New York Times, Cottrill stated that investors still owe him $75,000 in intellectual property fees related to the statue.

"You are using my copyrighted statue image to market your own tokens!" he wrote in a message to one of the token supporters last month.

“Yeah, haha, we’ve been planning to do this since day one,” Ashley Sansalone replied. Sansalone is a cryptocurrency developer who, in addition to PATRIOT, is also involved in another token project called Elon GOAT.

Elon Musk sculpture commissioned by Alan Cottrill

In a statement, Sansalone said that he would pay Cottrill in full before the statue's unveiling. "In any commercial agreement, a portion of the payment is withheld until the finished product is delivered," he said.

However, it is currently unclear when the statue will be officially unveiled.

On Monday, following inquiries from The New York Times to the White House and the Trump Organization regarding the PATRIOT token, Eric Trump, the president's son, released a statement on the X platform.

"We appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm," he said, "but it must be made clear that we have not been involved in any matters related to this token."

Creating "Don Colossus"

The idea for "Don Colossus" originated in a group chat on the instant messaging software Telegram. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts often used this platform to exchange investment tips and promote tokens. That was in July 2024, when Trump had just survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, raising his fist with a resolute expression.

Sansalone wanted to make this rebellious image the core of a Meme coin. He collaborated with right-wing activist Dustin Stockton, and also with well-connected cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce, who has a history of legal and financial disputes.

Shortly after the bullet grazed Trump's ear, Sansalone contacted 73-year-old Cottrill, whose bronze Edison statue now stands in the U.S. Capitol. Over the years, Cottrill has created statues for more than a dozen U.S. presidents, including 10-foot-tall memorials to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Cottrill stood in a room filled with sculptures.

This group of cryptocurrency investors wants Trump's statue to be taller than previous works and has also made some requests for changes to its appearance.

"The image I sculpted at first was very realistic," Cottrill said in an interview last month. "People in the crypto community asked me to trim some of the fat off his neck and make him thinner."

By the time Trump took office, Cottrill had completed the statue. The colossal bronze statue, not yet gilded, was the largest of all his works. Last December, Trump retweeted a Breitbart News report on the project, stating that Stockton was in talks with the Presidential Inauguration Commission and planned to unveil the statue over Inauguration Weekend.

The timing of this repost was perfect: it came shortly after the PATRIOT token went on sale.

The official website states: "A cryptocurrency belonging to the people, a statue that no one can erase."

However, the project subsequently encountered two major setbacks. The severe cold weather in Washington caused a series of logistical problems, forcing the unveiling of the statue to be postponed; and shortly before the inauguration, Trump launched his own Meme coin, TRUMP.

Just as cryptocurrency traders were scrambling to buy the official token, Stockton and Pierce hosted a "Patriot Award" event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., distributing miniature statue models on site.

"The atmosphere suddenly turned cold because Trump's token price suddenly skyrocketed," Cottrill said.

By the end of January, the price of ATRIOT had plummeted by more than 90%.

"A treasure trove"

Despite this setback, the group of cryptocurrency investors continues their marketing efforts. Last February, the infamous former Congressman George Santos displayed a miniature statue of Trump on Fox News, specifically mentioning the PATRIOT token.

A small, gilded statue of Trump with his fist raised, surrounded by several darker versions of the same statue.

Stockton shared the video on the X platform, declaring, "This kind of exposure is priceless!" In a brief phone interview, Santos stated, "I was paid to advertise for them, and I've always been outspoken about that."

Investors are also courting another influential ally: Burns. This prominent pastor is a close confidant of Trump and is sometimes referred to as the president's informal "spiritual advisor."

After Pierce introduced it to the project team, Burns began working on the statue. He quickly became a key figure in restarting the project, proposing to gild the bronze statue with gold leaf.

"The president just asked me for a photo of the statue after it was gilded," Burns wrote in a message to collaborators last November.

Trump's wish has finally come true. Sansalone revealed to his team that he consulted a New York-based gold leaf supplier who had previously decorated Trump Tower. Cottrill also shared the latest photos of the finished statue.

"It's dazzling and exquisite," Sansalone replied.

"Wow... I'll send it to the president right away," Burns wrote.

Clearly, Trump was impressed by the statue. Last month, Cottrill traveled to Florida to install the 7,000-pound pedestal at the Trump Dorra Golf Resort. Stockton boasted on social media that it was a "prime location." Burns stated in a text message to collaborators in January that White House schedulers were "actively finalizing" a date for the president's attendance at the official unveiling ceremony.

Trump National Doral Golf Course, Florida

This should have been Cottrill's moment of glory, but he said he had had enough of the cryptocurrency investors behind him.

Cottrill stated that he did not discover until the fall of 2024 that these cryptocurrency investors were using his artwork to market a digital currency, which he believed infringed on his intellectual property rights.

Ultimately, he reached an agreement with the investor: they would pay $150,000 in copyright fees for the statue. However, he claims that he has not yet received the remaining payment, and with other outstanding fees, the investor still owes him approximately $90,000.

Cryptocurrency investors are demanding that Trump's statue be tall enough and have made some requests for changes to its appearance.

"In my opinion, they didn't buy the intellectual property at all; they're using it illegally," he said. "This statue will never leave my foundry unless all debts are settled."

But the organizers of the project argued that it didn't actually make much money.

Burns stated that he never asked for or received any compensation. Stockton, in an interview, said that the PATRIOT token was merely a financing tool intended to "provide financial support for various matters related to the statue."

"I haven't seen anyone make a lot of money from this," Stockton said.

Kimberly Benza, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization, stated that the company only became aware of the Meme coin's existence this week after an inquiry from The New York Times. She did not respond to questions regarding whether the statue unveiling ceremony would proceed as scheduled.

This farce hasn't stopped the project from being promoted on social media. An X account associated with the token recently posted a photo of the base of the Doraemon statue and pinned a message detailing how to purchase the Meme coin.

"This dream is still alive," Sansalone said during a live stream with Burns on January 16.

In addition to the giant statue, the team also hopes to present Trump with a matching gilded miniature statue. "We hope to have one of our pieces displayed in the Oval Office," Sansalone said.