A new sculpture mocking President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system has appeared on the National Mall in Washington D.C., created by one of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
The installation, which was put up Wednesday morning, features a satirical statue of the president holding a hole-riddled golden dome like an umbrella as water streams from model missiles overhead.
Trump announced plans for an ambitious new missile-defense initiative dubbed the “Golden Dome” last year which he said would shield the nation using a network of space-based sensors and interceptors.
“You've heard about the guy talking about the Golden Dome. Well, he had it wrong. It's really a hole-den dome. That's right, lots of holes in the dude's golden dome,” ice cream mogul Ben Cohen said in a video promoting the project Tuesday.
According to the group behind the installation, which features a number of experts and advocates, the holes symbolize a defense system that fails under real-world conditions.
“Trump is wasting hundreds of billions of our money on a magical invisible shield that is a physical impossibility. The Golden Dome defense system will NOT work!” Cohen, 75, wrote on Instagram.
At a press conference following the statue’s unveiling Wednesday, speakers highlighted concerns that the “Golden Dome” proposal relied on unproven technology and could trigger a new global arms race.
“With an estimated cost of more than $4 trillion, advocates argue that resources would be better used to help working families struggling with the rising cost of housing, health care, and education,” spokesperson Edward Erikson said.
Estimates from the Federal News Network suggest that the defense system could cost up to $3.6 trillion.
When contacted for comment by The Independent, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said: “Trump Derangement Syndrome is a sick and incurable disease that has rotted the brains of many people. President Trump will never waver in fighting for and protecting the American people.”
Trump unveiled plans for his Golden Dome System – an ambitious new missile-defense initiative, capable of detecting, tracking and intercepting ICBMs – in May last year, claiming at the time it would be fully operational by 2029.
But as of February this year, the project has barely got off the ground, due in part to the White House’s holding back of billions in congressionally approved funds, meaning industry leaders haven’t been able to ramp up their work on the project, insiders and ex-defense department staffers told Politico.
Because the administration hasn’t tapped the $23 billion in funds approved for the defensive architecture, the Pentagon has instead relied on doling out piecemeal contracts to begin developing the space-based interceptors, sources told Politico.
Cohen and his fellow Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Jerry Greenfield, have long been vocal advocates of social justice causes, something they aligned with their brand and claimed that British company Unilever would respect following its purchase of Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.
Since then the pair has fallen out with Unilever, with Greenfield resigning as a brand ambassador in September last year, and Cohen accusing the company of “corporate butt kissing” to Trump.
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