At first glance, the Donald Trump waxwork just unveiled in London could be mistaken for the real mccoy. Apart from the fact the statue cannot talk, tweet or wildly gesticulate, the bottom-lipped sneer and straw-coloured comb-over have been perfected to resemble the President-elect.
Created by Madame Tussauds, the figure is one of four made in London. Three other lifelike waxworks of The Donald have been transported to Washington DC, New York and Orlando to mark Mr Trump’s inauguration on Friday.
Standing in a characteristically confident pose in a trademark navy suit adorned by a Made in America flag lapel pin and a red tie, the London waxwork stands in the museum’s Oval Office exhibit, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Dalai Lama and Mahatma Gandhi. The statue takes over from Barack Obama, who will be leaving the White House tomorrow.
Perfecting the billionaire property developer’s distinctive aesthetic was no easy task. It took a team of 20 skilled artists six months to create the figure, costing a total of £150,000.
His trademark hair was one of the most labour intensive parts of making the figure. They even consulted the stylist from The Apprentice to get some inside tips.
While they used a combination of real hair and yak hair for Mr Trump’s actual head of hair, they used squirrel hair for his eyebrows.
“Since Mr Trump was announced as the victorious candidate in what was a nail-biting and hard-fought campaign for both parties, our studio team have been frantically busy matching his infamous glowing tan and trademark hairstyle in time for the start of his Presidential reign,” Edward Fuller, Madame Tussauds, explained.
“Our guests will now find him standing imperiously in the Oval Office section within the attraction where he’ll reside for the remainder of his Presidency.”
Security was heightened at Mr Trump’s unveiling in London as there was a protest at a waxwork museum in Spain on Tuesday. A topless activist from feminist group FEMEN attacked a Trump statue, placing her hand on the statue's crotch while screaming “grab patriarchy by the balls.” This is of course a reference to a 2005 recording leaked in October in which Mr Trump spoke about grabbing women “by the p*ssy”.
