Three arcade cabinets appeared at the D.C. War Memorial on Monday morning, September 28, 2026, turning the site into a temporary play space for a satirical game about President Donald Trump seeking to seize Greenland. The installation by anonymous art collective Secret Handshake casts players in a pixelated quest involving wildlife and “woke yetis,” with minerals, cryptocurrency mining and golf courses among the stated aims.
WTOP News reports that the game, titled “Operation Epic Furious: Nuuk 'Em All,” also features vaccinated children and fishermen as obstacles, with Trump’s cabinet and family members assisting the player. Presidential assistant Natalie Harp appears as a character who provides healing items, according to WTOP News.
Real-World Diplomacy Behind the Pixels
The satire lands squarely on top of actual headlines. President Trump announced a new security agreement with Denmark and Greenland regarding U.S. defense access in the Arctic territory this month, according to CNBC, following months of renewed diplomatic tension over Arctic sovereignty and military positioning. Trump first floated the idea of buying Greenland back in August 2019, calling it essentially a large real estate deal, a proposal Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected at the time as absurd, according to The Guardian, which also reported that the rebuff prompted Trump to postpone a diplomatic visit to Copenhagen.
One gameplay gag delays the mission if Trump falls asleep near a fireplace or couch. WTOP reports that Detroit visitor Morgan Jackson advised players to keep the character away from those spots and avoid naps.
Visitors Weigh In at the Memorial
Walt Norris, who is from Bend, Oregon and was already in Washington, told the outlet, “We had to come here see what it was all about,” adding that he thought the game was good in part because he identifies as a Democrat. Nancy Baillie, a D.C. resident, called the experience fun and hilarious. Nicholas Nappi of Arlington, Virginia, who encountered characters modeled on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a figure he described as a “looks-maxing” Iranian, said the game's art was well made enough to feel human-created.
A Sequel Built on an Earlier Iran Game
Reaching the end of the Greenland game loops players directly back into “Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell,” Secret Handshake's unwinnable arcade game about war with Iran, according to WUSA9, a narrative loop the outlet says underscores the artists' commentary on endless military interventions. That earlier game debuted at the same D.C. War Memorial on May 11, 2026, as a 16-bit RPG criticizing administration rhetoric surrounding potential conflict with Iran, according to the Los Angeles Times, which noted the installation marked the group's shift from static sculptures to interactive video game consoles. The collective also expanded the Greenland project internationally, installing a fourth arcade cabinet on a hillside overlooking Nuuk, Greenland's coastal capital of roughly 20,000 residents, over the same weekend, per the Los Angeles Times report.
From Foam Statues to Federal Permits
Secret Handshake first drew national attention in September 2025 with “Best Friends Forever,” a 12-foot foam and wire faux-bronze statue on the National Mall depicting Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands and skipping, a sculpture U.S. Park Police dismantled within 24 hours over alleged permit non-compliance. The group returned in March 2026 with “King of the World,” a Titanic-themed sculpture of the two men on a ship's bow accompanied by 10 banners. Unlike that first illicit statue, the collective secured official National Park Service permits for its multi-day arcade installations in both May and September 2026, reflecting how First Amendment permits can allow temporary displays on the National Mall when specific guidelines are met.
The memorial itself carries its own local weight: dedicated by President Herbert Hoover on Armistice Day in 1931, the D.C. War Memorial is a circular marble Doric tempietto and the only monument on the National Mall built specifically to honor local Washingtonians, commemorating 499 D.C. residents who died in World War I, according to the National Park Service. The structure was designed to double as an active performance bandstand, a detail that makes it an unusually fitting stage for a pop-up arcade.
The Agreement and the Memorial’s Public Role
The White House agreement text provides for U.S. military access and movement through Greenland between defense areas. It identifies the United States, the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland in the agreement, and says it enters into force after a diplomatic note confirms completion of necessary parliamentary procedures by Denmark together with Greenland. The cited terms set out defense access and an approval process; they do not describe a change to Greenland’s status. That framework is distinct from the game’s satirical premise of seizing the territory, according to the White House agreement text. The memorial’s performance role predates the arcade installation: the National Park Service says it was designed to replace a wooden bandstand and host public concerts. Political art has also appeared elsewhere on the Mall under specific permit conditions. ABC News reported that CODEPINK received a National Park Service permit for its Baby Trump balloon on the Mall on July Fourth, subject to a cold-air restriction that limited its height—a separate precedent involving a balloon, not arcade cabinets.
White House Pushes Back
Not everyone found the installation amusing. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly condemned the project in an email, writing that the untalented “artists” should stick to their ugly “art” and refrain from weighing in on foreign policy, which she said they clearly know nothing about, according to The Washington Post. The rebuke came even as the collective continued operating with the government's own permits in hand.
