An angry-looking green-eyed statue of the president surrounded by fake snakes has been turning heads in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York since Sunday.
It is not known who created the artwork which depicts Trump inside a tire, with his mouth open and his hand glowing a particularly garish shade of orange.
But Mike Heyner, who lives nearby, was impressed, telling WPIX: “They put a suit jacket on him, a shirt, a red tie. I mean, it looked pretty good. So whoever did it took their time doing it.”
However he said that time has taken its toll on the Trump effigy, adding, “He was in a lot better shape. He looks a little deflated now.”
The statue was anchored under the Carroll Street Bridge by a mystery artist over the weekend which coincided with a local popular arts event called Gowanus Open Studios.
It was first brought to wider attention after a reader of the local blog Pardon Me For Asking posted images of it, with the comment: “It looked like he was put there not too long before because goo was just starting to collect among the snakes.
“By this afternoon, he’ll be looking really gross! Looks like he’s anchored because he’s not moving despite the Gowanus flowing around him this morning. I have no idea how he got there.”
Another local, Daniel Alabanese told WPIX: “It’s him surrounded by snakes in the most polluted water in the country. It’s Trump in his natural element—the swamp.”
Nicknamed Lavender Lake, the toxic waterway has at times been home to typhoid, cholera, tuberculosis, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
A local who only gave his first name Dennis told the publication: “It’s an appropriate place to put an effigy of our current president because there’s a lot of garbage in there,” he said, adding: “I don’t know if garbage should be maligned like that.”
However Louis Freda told WPIX that the effigy was disrespectful, saying, “You’re mocking our leader. You’re mocking the guy that protects our country.
“To me if someone got caught throwing that in there they may be subject to an arrest.”
Gowanus Canal Conservancy head Andrea Parker told the Brooklyn Paper: “I think it’s pretty funny. It’s creepy. And one thing I really like about it is how it’s going in and out of from under the bridge with the tides.”
A popular refrain from his 2016 campaign, Trump used the catchphrase “drain the swamp,” as recently as Monday night to disparage House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff over criticism that the president did not inform him in advance of the operation to kill the leader of militant group Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“Wouldn’t be surprised if the Do Nothing Democrats Impeach me over that! DRAIN THE SWAMP!!” Trump tweeted.