Crypto investors with the project $PATRIOT commissioned Ohio artist Alan Cottrill to create the bronze statue after Trump was nearly assassinated in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
Cottrill is working to capture Trump’s courage and defiance immediately after being shot. In iconic fashion, Trump rose with a bloodied face and pumped his fist as he repeatedly shouted, “Fight!” to his supporters before U.S. Secret Service agents rushed him off stage.
Alan Cottrill also created the Thomas Edison statue in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. In a statement to ArtDependence Alan Cotrill said: “ I have over 400 of my life-size or larger statues throughout the United States, including 15 statues of presidents, however, at 15 feet tall this is the largest single figure statue I have done to date. This is far away, the most controversial statue I have done. About half of the comments I have received have been “congratulations, this is great” and the other half have been questioning “how could you make a statue of this reprehensible figure” . My response has been, “ I am a statue maker, I do not choose my subjects, those who commission and pay for the statues choose the subject and my job is to represent the individual in the manner requested.”
The statue can be displayed in Butler before ultimately being placed forever at the eventual Trump Presidential Library. It is still unclear where exactly the statue would go in Butler and whether or not it could stand on the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump was shot.