Local authorities in Tehran, Iran, erected an art display this week in which an actor depicting President Donald Trump is placed in a cage hanging above a public square, performing President Trump's signature dance and eliciting jeers from passersby.
The art installation appears to be the latest outrageous street propaganda debuting in Iran's capital to condemn the ongoing conflict between America and Iran. Iranian officials regularly adorn the streets of Tehran with images of Trump dead, calls for his demise, and other incendiary rhetoric.
Iranian authorities have been openly calling for Trump's killing, and sometimes his arrest, since the U.S. government eliminated terror mastermind Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.
The caged Trump appears above Tajrish Square, displayed to allow residents to interact with it as well as take photographs with the actor from afar. A caption sign by the cage reportedly reads, "it is a crime not to see this scene." The actor playing Trump is wearing a large red tie and heavy makeup to simulate the president's face and hair. He reportedly paces around and occasionally performs the Trump dance.
Reports from the scene indicate that many locals are taking selfies with the cage in the background and interacting with the actor, either threatening to kill him (Trump) or joking, "we'll pay your bail!"
The public display of a national enemy is a practice with longstanding history around the world, although most instances occurred in the distant past and did not involve an actor. One of the few modern examples of this practice occurred in 1992 in Peru, when conservative President Alberto Fujimori successfully subdued the Marxist terrorist organization Shining Path, which had engaged in multiple mass killings throughout the Peruvian countryside. Following the capture of its leader, Abimael Guzmán, Fujimori ordered the military to dress Guzmán in a movie-style prison uniform and display him in a large cage.
The Iranian government regularly torments its citizens with propaganda displays against Trump and the United States in general. In July, a massive billboard showing a large-bellied, corpse of president Trump appeared in the capital, the coffin decorated with scribbles featuring anti-American slogans. One message in English read "we kill Trump."
In January, before the launch of "Operation Epic Fury" that resulted in the death of longtime dictator Ali Khamenei, a billboard appeared in Tehran showing what appeared to be a destroyed American fighter jets, threatening the demise of the U.S. military. The billboard read "if you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind."
The Iranian government has also repeatedly advocated for Trump's death at public events. In July, during the elder Khamenei's funeral, speakers denounced the fact that their dictator had been killed while Trump persisted.
"Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?" one speaker complained. "The world is no longer a good place for Trump. Why should we not kill the man who killed our imam? It would be a disgrace if we did not."
Iranian clerics, bolstered by the regime, have openly called for Trump's death for years. In 2020, during Soleimani's funeral, one speaker at the event suggested that every Muslim around the world should donate one dollar towards a reward for anyone who could kill Trump.
"If everyone anywhere in the world supports our initiative in Mashhad, on behalf of all of Iran's people — 80 million Iranians — and each puts aside $1 US, it would equal $80 million," he stated. "We would give this $80 million, on our own behalf, as a gift to anyone who brings the head of the person who ordered the murder of the grand figure of our revolution – anyone who brings us the head of this yellow-haired lunatic, we would give him $80 million on behalf of the great Iranian nation."
The Iranian government has not updated whether the crowdsourcing initiative was successful or not since the speech. Publicly, the speaker received only one positive response from a prominent figure: comedian George Lopez.
Pedestrians take pictures of an Iranian actor wearing a mask depicting US President Donald Trump as he poses inside a mock prison cell installed onto a street billboard at Tajrish Square in Tehran on October 21, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /
The conflict that began in February with "Operation Epic Fury," which eliminated Khamenei and dozens of senior leaders in the Iranian regime, officially remains unresolved, though active hostilities have been limited in the past two months. Asked about the situation this week, President Trump said his government was doing "very well with Iran," suggesting that some limited behind-the-scenes negotiations were taking place.
The United States still maintains a maritime blockade on Iranian oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, while the Iranian regime regularly threatens terrorist action against ships in the Strait, sending oil prices skyrocketing throughout the past year.
President Trump suggested in comments to reporters this week that the conflict was mostly resolved.
"We just have to make a final decision of which way do we want to win. Do we want to win the nice way or the not nice way," he said.
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