A 12-foot statue of President Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands and prancing together was erected on the National Mall early on September 23, 2025.
Three plaques appear alongside the satirical faux-bronze statues, courtesy of a mysterious group that goes by the name The Secret Handshake. The plaques note the statues are “In Honor of Friendship Month” in September.
Photographer: Arthur Delaney
Update:
A group called The Secret Handshake claimed responsibility for the statue after it arrived on the National Mall on Tuesday (09/24/25) morning. And while a National Park Service permit issued for the statue — obtained by NPR — allowed it to remain there until Sunday evening, eyewitness video showed U.S. Park Police hauling it onto a truck before sunrise on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior told NPR that the statue was removed "because it was not compliant with the permit issued," though did not specify how.
The Secret Handshake is accusing the Trump administration of illegally removing the statue as part of its crackdown on speech it disagrees with, on the heels of ABC's temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission.
The White House did not respond to NPR's questions about the artwork's removal, but had previously criticized it.
"Liberals are free to waste their money however they see fit – but it's not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told NPR on Wednesday.
Having each worked independently for a number of years, the HÆLOS trio eventually came together to find a strong synergy between the group. Each one of their vividly cinematic tracks seems to map the long journey from desperation to relief, stress to sanctuary – the basic dynamic of all urban life. HÆLOS is the music of three people having found each other, all the while possessing an undeniably evocative and contemporary zeal… We talk to Arthur Delaney about capturing conflict in music, living in an avoidant age and Alan Watts…
TSH: Talk us through the band dynamic as the record came to fruition whilst you guys were in a cold and dark London atmosphere…
Arthur: When we were laying out the foundations for HÆLOS we had a pretty clear idea of the kind of music we wanted to be making. Although there was some evolution over the course of writing ‘Full Circle’, we had a clear vision of where we saw the project going. We locked ourselves away for about a year and focused on finishing songs. This ultimately informed the way that we wrote, I think we only abandoned two projects; instead we always deconstructed and distilled until a song was finished.
TSH: You’ve touched on opposites attracting - needing this formula as a sort of balance – how does this come into play with your musical perspectives?
Arthur: Tension is integral to music. Songs are about emotions and emotions are rarely one-dimensional; sometimes the highest highs allow us to reflect on our darkest fears and sometimes our lows are comfortable and reassuring. We wanted to capture a sense of that conflict in our music.
TSH: Furthermore, throughout the forming of the record you worked as a collective and collaborated the whole way through. How pleasing is it to have a trust expressed musically that allows you to excel?
Arthur: The great thing about working with Dom and Lotti is that they bring loads to the table creatively, it's always inspiring to work alongside other talented people and ultimately you find the best in yourself when that is the case. We all bring different focus but there's an overlap between our skills and that has been pivotal to the project. It's been difficult at times because we all have strong personalities and like to be right about the way we see things, but we figured out that the music is at its best when we are all into it.
TSH: Also, knowing that the record was primarily made for yourselves, is it liberating to know that the pressure is purely internal?
Arthur: We set out that way, so that would be the case. When you’re second guessing what you think people would like to hear you end up writing bad music that's short on soul and designed purely for the mass market. That's not what we are about. We wanted to make music that was honest to ourselves and that ultimately means the listener has an honest experience when they're listening. Either people like it or they don't and that cool with us.
TSH: How did you go about fleshing out the excellent ‘Dust’ from the ground up?
Arthur: ‘Dust’ was the first song we wrote as a three. It started with some descending chords on the Fender Rhodes piano. Dom put the BT Express sample in there and built a groove around that. Lotti had written the 'I can't feel enough' melody over that. I think I put some sketchy strings down at that point and Dom built the euphoric building synth line over that. We worked on lyrics, I had the images flying around that I wanted to fit in and really connected with the simplicity of Lotti's chorus line. We initially had a different verse written but scrapped that in favour of the one that's on there now. We tracked our vocals together, the buzzword in the studio for what we were going for was 'future choir'. The 'this love ain't mine' lick I wrote in. We wrote the final melody at the end and Dom wormholed into the production for a couple of days completing the mix.
TSH: Moreover, what sort of motivations do you draw on to pen a track like ‘Oracle’?
Arthur: This is a good example of the way we recycle projects to make new ones. The groove for ‘Oracle’ came from the end of another song that we had spent weeks on with no payoff. I had the flu so Dom and Lotti spent the majority of time on that project. They had the melody written and most of the production done by the time I was better. I think production wise Dom took that track into new territory and it's my favourite of Lotti's vocal performances on the record. I wrote the lyrics in one session with Dom. It's a downloaded prophecy streaming from the subconscious and we are still sort of in the process of decoding it ourselves.
TSH: What was the reasoning in sequencing and closing with the alluring ‘Pale’?
Arthur: Sequencing a record is a really important and something we took time deciding. We wanted the record to flow as the order you choose can massively change the listening experience and even how each track sounds. We felt it was right to end on ‘Pale’ as the climax of that song feels like the album exhaling. We also liked the way it cuts sharply. It's sudden, traumatic and ultimately only satisfying if you go back to the beginning of the record.
TSH: Having stated that you go through a lot of struggles between yourselves to find ‘that equal point’ – how challenging was this aspect overall?
Arthur: It was cool. We came together as musicians looking to make something and had to work on the friendships outside of that as time has gone on. It took a while to realise how to communicate and that has taken work in its own right. That played into the work, arguing doesn't feel good but it shows you care. We've got good at returning to humility and love, as that's how things should be.
TSH: Also, the band is producing, mixing, writing and rewriting all at the same time – does stripping away elements help to reveal the core of what you’re aiming for at times?
Arthur: Yeah, of course, if a song doesn't work as just a melody and chords then it's not a great song. Sometimes when you’re making music that is really computer based it's easy to cover over that, so it becomes a discipline to strip everything back and make sure that the song is there underneath.
TSH: Can you give us some examples of finding beauty in tension with recent forms of various art…
Arthur: One of my favourite writers is JG Ballard, his work always juxtaposes the way things appear and what's going on below the surface. In his novels society is a fragile veneer that collapses when questioned or put under strain. That's a macrocosm for the way we are as individuals; we want to be perceived in a certain way but that's not always a reflection of what's actually going on under the surface. Musically, If you look at a producer like Burial, he is adept at building that tension into his music. The darkness and the light colliding is what makes things interesting.
TSH: Having a penchant for great songs that capture and contain certain feelings and make it safe for people to experience them – is this the type of ethos that you aim to adopt with HÆLOS?
Arthur: Yeah, for sure. We always look to capture a feeling or a moment and I guess that allows people to experience strong emotion in a pleasurable way. We live in an avoidant age; everything is presented to distract us from ourselves, which is entertaining on a surface level but ultimately unfulfilling on a deeper one. We're in a bit of a pop age, loads of music at the moment seems quite plastic and disposable, like a product to be used and thrown away. Perhaps that's an accurate reflection of our mass produced society and has credibility as a comment but all the music we love and listen to tends to offer a bit more.
TSH: You’ve previously mentioned that the band tries to visually represent how the music feels like to listen to – with this in mind, where do most of your visual inspirations on your Tumblr commonly come from?
Arthur: It's purely instinctual and a process of feeling it out. We're really into the collision of nature and human structures and how that can act as a suggestion of tension between control and emotion, of being shut down or wide open. We like our visuals to be multi-dimensional and open to personal interpretation. When we created the album artwork we liked the way some people just say a halo while others see an eclipse or even a black hole which all things are drawn into and lost.
TSH: Alan Watts is also an inspiration for you guys…
Arthur: Alan Watts’ genius and skill was in his knowledge and his ability to convey the message to the Western world. I guess musicians are also looking for that. We chose that sample from his lecture 'The Spectrum of Love' because it had relevance to our album and the themes we were exploring, but also because it transcends our work and applies to all people. What are the forces that drive us? Why do we behave the way we do? That's what as songwriters we are interested in.
TSH: Having an admiration for Hans Zimmer’s latest work on Inception and Interstellar, what sort of soundtracks have you been immersed in lately?
Arthur: The soundtrack from the first series of True Detective is beautifully done. Also, I watched 'There Will Be Blood' again recently and the Jonny Greenwood soundtrack on that is pretty special.
TSH: Also, having been stuck in a Paris Hotel lift recently, what helped you guys to remain relaxed and positive?
Arthur: Twitter.
TSH: Does your tour manager Nigel still put on Cold Water Music by Aim for you guys to dance around to, before shows?
Arthur: Occasionally. On this tour we've been putting on a mix that Dom jammed out for German radio.
TSH: Finally, heading forward, what are the key fundamentals that you hope to maintain and stay true with future HÆLOS material?
Arthur: We've got some cool ideas for our next record which are just starting to take shape now. We just want to write more music we enjoy and carry on realising our ideas.
When you create art, it can’t be anything but a collage of everything you see, read and hear in your life. Tearing up the genres, piecing it back together and in the end - it’s something new.
Arthur Delaney (HÆLOS) in an interview for The Line Of Best Fit.
