''The Master Drone'' (), popularly referred to as ''God Emperor Trump'', was a

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sculpture and float depicting

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, dressed as the fictional God Emperor of Mankind from the ''

Warhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987 ...

'' miniature war game franchise. It was created by the Italian artist Fabrizio Galli for the Carnival of Viareggio in 2019.

Design

The sculpture depicted Donald Trump wearing golden armour based on that of the God Emperor of Mankind from ''Warhammer 40,000''. The knee and shoulder pads of the armour depicted the heads of various political figures. In his right hand, Trump held a sword with four blue birds, representing

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, the platform from which he criticized his perceived enemies and promoted his positions. Engraved on the blade of the sword was the Italian phrase ''dazi vostri'', which translates to 'your taxes' or 'your duties', but is also a pun on ''cazzi vostri'', meaning 'you're in trouble'. According to Fabrizio, the phrase could mean 'here's your fucking tariffs'. The sculpture included multiple moving parts. The statue was paraded to the song, "Carolus Rex" by Swedish metal band,

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armour, body armor that covers the foot. History Sabatons from the 14th and 15th centuries typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following poulaines, f ...

Symbolism

The artist of the sculpture, Fabrizio Galli, stated that the sculpture was intended to mock the Trump presidency, and that Trump shares parallels with the fictional dictator from ''Warhammer 40,000''. Pointing out Trump's goals of Mars colonisation and the creation of the

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...

, Galli stated that politics had abandoned intellectualism in favour of "fantasy" and "virtual life". The sword was intended as symbolic of Trump "trying to destroy nations with the economy instead of nuclear missiles". This has been interpreted as a reference to the ''Warhammer 40,000'' concept of Exterminatus, or the destruction of an entire planet. Images of Donald Trump photoshopped into the armour of the God Emperor of Mankind, as well as the title of "God Emperor Trump", had been

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

s used by Trump supporters prior to the float's debut.

Reception

Although the sculpture was intended to criticise Trump, many of his supporters embraced it, with Emerald Robinson, the White House correspondent for One America News Network, stating that the Italian carnival looked "more fun" than the American Thanksgiving Day Parade because of the float. Several conservative commentators interpreted the float to be a tribute to Trump, claiming that the carnival was a parade in his honour. The ''

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'' described the sculpture as "terrifying".

References

External links

Page about the sculpture
at Galli's website {{Warhammer 40,000 Statues of Donald Trump Protests against Donald Trump Caricatures of presidents of the United States Colossal statues in Italy Outdoor sculptures in Italy Sculptures of men in Italy Viareggio Papier-mâché Warhammer 40,000 2019 sculptures Internet memes introduced in 2019