Germans tore into Donald Trump on their biggest carnival of the year—and on Presidents Day in the U.S.
The 79-year-old American leader was the central character in several floats that paraded through western Germany for Rosenmontag, or Rose Monday, a highly anticipated festival that traditionally satirizes global events and pokes fun at political figures.
Millions of revelers poured out onto the streets of Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Mainz for the five-mile parade that traces its roots back to 1823.
One float depicted Trump punching a black-eyed Jesus. The American president’s sleeve bore the acronym “ICE,” while Jesus wore a garment that read “Love & humanity.”
Another float showed Trump appearing to sexually assault the Statue of Liberty, whose mouth was covered by red tape marked “MAGA.” Trump was portrayed as pantsless with a “Stormy” tattoo on his thigh, in an apparent reference to his felony conviction for making hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
A separate float mocked suck-ups by showing Trump’s bare bottom adorned with kiss marks from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, FIFA, and the European Union.
Two other images lampooned Trump’s love-hate relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
One poster illustrated Trump on his knees licking Putin’s shoes, while a float depicted Trump and Putin with their mouths wide open, gobbling up an animal labeled “Europa.”
Rose Monday is the highlight of the Cologne Carnival, which kicks off in the six days leading up to Ash Wednesday. This year, it just so happened to coincide with Presidents Day in the U.S.
Earlier on Monday, Trump also took shots from one of his Republican predecessors: George W. Bush.
“Our first president could have remained all-powerful, but twice he chose not to,” Bush wrote in an essay that appeared to take pointed swipes at Trump. “In doing so, he set a standard for all presidents to live up to.”
“Our first leader helped define not only the character of the presidency but the character of the country. Washington modeled what it means to put the good of the nation over self-interest and selfish ambition,” Bush said. “He embodied integrity and modeled why it’s worth aspiring to. And he carried himself with dignity and self-restraint, honoring the office without allowing it to become invested with near-mythical powers.”
