Everyone wants to make money off Trump's presidency, but few have acted as boldly as the supporters of the PATRIOT token.

Written by: David Yaffe-Bellany, The New York Times

Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News

This statue of President Trump is called "Don Colossus." It stands 15 feet tall on a 7,000-pound base, making its overall height comparable to a two-story building. The giant statue is cast in bronze and coated with a thick layer of gold leaf. (Note: Don Colossus literally translates to "Giant Don," referring to Trump as a giant.)

For over a year, this gilded statue has been at the center of one of the most bizarre gold rush schemes of the Trump era. A group of cryptocurrency investors spent $300,000 commissioning a sculptor to create this statue as a tribute to Trump, who openly supports cryptocurrency.

They then used this statue to promote a meme coin called PATRIOT.

Now, unexpectedly, this plan seems to be coming to fruition. Last month, a base made of concrete and stainless steel was completed at Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida. According to records reviewed by The New York Times, one of the organizers of the plan, Trump's friend Mark Burns, revealed to collaborators that the president plans to attend the statue's unveiling ceremony locally.

"This statue looks amazing," Trump wrote in a letter to Burns last December.

Alan Cottrill inspects his design of the gilded statue of President Trump in Zanesville, Ohio

Almost everyone in the cryptocurrency space has tried to profit from Trump's presidency: either by striking business deals with his family or seeking regulatory relief from his government. But few have acted as boldly as the supporters of PATRIOT.

Meme coins are cryptocurrencies that have almost no practical function beyond speculation, typically built around viral internet jokes or celebrity images, with their value entirely dependent on the price that online fans are willing to pay. The key to creating a meme coin is generating enough online buzz to convince potential buyers that its price will continue to rise.

Creating a giant statue is an expensive way to generate social media hype, but it is also a potential profit-making scheme. According to one organizer of the plan, the investors who funded the statue received a large amount of the token, which can sometimes see its price skyrocket. For months, supporters of "Don Colossus" have been posting updates on the statue's progress on the X platform and forming alliances within the "Make America Great Again" camp, aiming for a marketing triumph: to have this statue become part of Trump's official brand.

By the end of 2024, the PATRIOT meme coin was officially launched, coinciding with Trump's promise to make America the "global cryptocurrency capital," and the token's price soared at one point. During an event held in Washington over the presidential inauguration weekend, supporters of the token presented a bronze mini statue to Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon and interacted with other conservative figures.

However, repeated delays and internal disputes have cast a shadow over this gold rush plan, allowing outsiders to glimpse the turmoil in the meme coin market: a market rife with scams, where investors often end up losing everything. Last year, the price of PATRIOT plummeted, nearly reaching zero. To rush the completion of the statue and boost the token, investors clashed with sculptor Alan Cottrill, based in Ohio.

In text messages reviewed by The New York Times, Cottrill stated that the investors still owe him $75,000 for the statue's intellectual property rights.

"You are using my copyrighted statue image to market your token!" he wrote in a message to one of the token supporters last month.

"Yeah, haha, we planned to do that from day one," replied Ashley Sansalone. Sansalone is a cryptocurrency developer who, in addition to PATRIOT, is also involved in another token project called Elon GOAT.

The Elon Musk sculpture designed by Alan Cottrill

Sansalone stated in a statement that Cottrill's fees would be paid in full before the statue's unveiling. "In any commercial agreement, a portion of the payment is withheld until the final product is delivered," he said.

But it remains unclear when the statue will officially be unveiled.

On Monday, after The New York Times inquired about the PATRIOT token with the White House and the Trump Organization, President Trump's son Eric Trump posted a related statement on the X platform.

"We appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm," he said, "but it must be made clear that we are not involved in any matters related to this token."

Creating "Don Colossus"

The plan to create "Don Colossus" originated in a group chat on the messaging app Telegram. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts often use this platform to exchange investment tips and promote tokens. It was July 2024, shortly after Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he raised his fist with a determined expression.

Sansalone wanted to turn this defiant image into the core symbol of a meme coin. He collaborated with right-wing activist Dustin Stockton, and well-connected cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce also joined in, despite Pierce's history of legal and financial troubles.

Shortly after a bullet grazed Trump's ear, Sansalone contacted 73-year-old Cottrill, whose bronze statue of Edison is now displayed in the U.S. Capitol. Over the years, Cottrill has created statues for several U.S. presidents, including a 10-foot tall statue of George Washington and a memorial statue of Thomas Jefferson.

Cottrill stands in a room filled with sculptures

These cryptocurrency investors hoped that Trump's statue would be taller than any previous work and suggested some modifications to its appearance.

"My initial sculpture was very lifelike," Cottrill said in an interview last month. "Those crypto people asked me to trim some of the neck fat and make the figure slimmer."

By the time Trump was inaugurated, Cottrill had completed the statue, which was the tallest of all his works, although it had not yet been gilded. In December last year, Trump retweeted a Breitbart News article about the project, which stated that Stockton was in communication with the presidential inauguration committee, planning to hold a unveiling ceremony for the statue during the inauguration weekend.

The timing of this retweet was perfect: at that time, the PATRIOT token had just been launched.

The official website stated: "A cryptocurrency for the people, this statue cannot be erased."

However, the project soon faced two major setbacks. The cold weather in Washington caused a series of logistical issues, forcing the unveiling plan to be postponed; and shortly before the inauguration, Trump launched his own meme coin, TRUMP.

As cryptocurrency traders rushed to buy this official token, Stockton and Pierce held a "Patriot Awards" event at the National Press Club in Washington, distributing mini models of the statue.

"The atmosphere suddenly cooled because the price of Trump's token skyrocketed," Cottrill said.

By the end of January, the price of PATRIOT had plummeted by over 90%.

"A Prime Location"

Despite these setbacks, the group of cryptocurrency investors continued to push forward with marketing. In February last year, notorious former Congressman George Santos showcased a mini statue of Trump on Fox News, specifically mentioning the PATRIOT token.

A small gilded statue of Trump raising his fist, surrounded by several dark-colored similar statues

Stockton reposted this video on the X platform, claiming, "This kind of exposure is priceless!" In a brief phone interview, Santos stated, "I was paid to promote it, and I have always been upfront about that."

The investors also sought to recruit another influential ally: Burns. This well-known pastor is a close confidant of Trump and is sometimes referred to as the president's informal "spiritual advisor."

After Pierce introduced him to the project team, Burns began to get involved with the statue-related work. He quickly became a key figure in pushing the project to restart, suggesting that the bronze statue be gilded.

"The president just asked me for photos of the statue after it is gilded," Burns wrote in a message to collaborators last November.

Trump's wish ultimately came true. Sansalone informed the team that he consulted a gold leaf supplier in New York that had previously decorated Trump Tower. Cottrill also shared the latest photos of the statue's finished product.

"It's so dazzling and exquisite," Sansalone replied.

"Wow… I'll send this to the president," Burns wrote.

Clearly, Trump was moved by the statue. Last month, Cottrill traveled to Florida to complete the installation of the 7,000-pound base at Trump's Doral golf resort. Stockton boasted on social media that this was a "prime location." In a text message to collaborators in January, Burns stated that White House schedulers were currently "actively finalizing" the date for the president to attend the official unveiling ceremony of the statue.

Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida

This should have been Cottrill's moment of glory, but he said he had had enough of the cryptocurrency investors behind the scenes.

Cottrill stated that it wasn't until the fall of 2024 that he realized these cryptocurrency investors were using the image of his work to market a digital currency, which he believed infringed on his intellectual property rights.

Ultimately, he reached an agreement with the investors: they would pay $150,000 for the statue's copyright. However, he stated that he has yet to receive the remaining payment, and along with other outstanding fees, they owe him a total of about $90,000.

Cryptocurrency investors requested that Trump's statue be tall enough and suggested some modifications to its appearance.

"In my view, they never actually purchased this intellectual property; they are now using it illegally," he said. "Unless all debts are settled, this statue will never leave my foundry."

But the project's organizers argue that the project has not made much money.

Burns stated that he has never asked for or received any compensation. Stockton, in an interview, said that the PATRIOT token is merely a financing tool aimed at "providing funding for matters related to the statue."

"I haven't seen anyone make big money off this," Stockton said.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization, Kimberly Benza, stated that the company only became aware of the existence of this meme coin after The New York Times inquired about it this week. She did not respond to questions about whether the statue's unveiling ceremony would proceed as scheduled.

This farce has not stopped the project's promotion on social media. An X account associated with the token recently posted photos of the statue's base in Doral and pinned a message detailing how to purchase the meme coin.

"This dream is still alive," Sansalone said during a live broadcast with Burns on January 16.

In addition to the giant statue, the team also hopes to present Trump with a gilded mini statue of the same design. "We hope to have a piece displayed in the Oval Office," Sansalone said.

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