Anti-Trump billboard in Phoenix calls out DOGE and the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

If you’ve ever driven east on Historic Grand Avenue near downtown Phoenix, you’ve surely noticed a looming billboard just south of 11th Avenue, its contents prominently displayed for all motorists and pedestrians to admire.

Donald Trump.

But it’s not just any old portrait of the 45th and 47th President of the United States. Karen Fiorito, the artist behind the latest rendition, which went up on July 3, a day before Trump signed his “Big, Beautiful Bill” into law, has created a humorous masterpiece for all to behold.

Dubbed “Swamp King,” the 40-foot-wide artpiece displays the reality of Trump’s proposed kingdom based on his 2015 campaign promise to drain the swamp. 

“The level of damage and chaos Donald Trump has levied on all aspects of the U.S. government and American life during his first 6 months” inspired her work, she wrote in a post on Instagram announcing the billboard.

The piece takes a jab at various symbolic elements of the Trump administration, including the now-obscure relationship between Trump and the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, whose Tesla Cybertruck has become the image of said association that’s left disastrous effects for the American people. 

On one side of the artwork, a Cybertruck is seen with notable dents, a red swastika painted on its side as it begins to sink into the swamp, with a mushroom cloud in the background and an alligator wearing a “Make America Great Again” in close proximity.

To the right, a jet meant to represent the $400 million gift that the White House accepted from Qatar is branded “Big Beautiful Lie,” while a copy of a reimagined Trump book, “The Art of the Steal,” and a Monopoly “Get out of jail” card float nearby. 

And at its center, the president himself, crowned and shirtless, half-submerged in the water with his iPhone in one hand and a miniature toy tank in the other. To his side, text that details the expected impact of H.R. 1, which significantly reduces federal spending by cutting funds to programs like Medicaid and food stamp benefits and increases funding for immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts.

“Erratic, contradictory policies shored up by a cruel budget, are destined to ruin the lives of millions of middle and low income families, in favor of obscene tax cuts for the rich,” Fiorito wrote on Instagram.

The billboard itself has displayed political art for years under the watchful care of longtime Phoenix artist Beatrice Moore, managing director of the Grand Avenue Arts and Preservation.

Grand Avenue has been a home for Fiorito’s work over the years, with the same billboard serving as a display case numerous times in the past, including “Twitler and Putin’s Puppet Do Washington,” which went up this past March and depicts Musk puppeteering a doll-sized Trump, and “Trump Is A Baby,” a 2024 rendition of Trump as, its title aptly states, a baby in various forms celebrating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

“All of us - artists, activists and everyday citizens - need to stand up, and fight back (against) this tyrannical oligarchy. This is my way of fighting back,” Fiorito said in a statement.