The Unfolding Events: The Evening Led By Donkeys Projected Pictures Featuring Trump and Epstein on to Windsor Castle

When the announcement was made for the former president's second state visit, complete with a royal dinner at Windsor on 17 September 2025, the activist collective Led By Donkeys was determined to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet seemed especially servile. Their next art-activist event proceeded like clockwork.

A Deliberate Message

The group produced a nine-minute film detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The president of the United States was a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious sex offender. He’s alleged to be referenced, numerous times, in the files related to the criminal probe into Epstein … And now that president, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted all allegations concerning Epstein.)

Preparations and Execution

The activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with views of the castle and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, according to group founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a powerful 32,000-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart positioned a Bluetooth speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, atop a garbage can outside.

International press was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. Their film, spread rapidly everywhere. “While photographs of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart says, “I’m not sure that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made gives people something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious to examine here.’ It was a piece of guerrilla journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”

The Moment of Projection

The film began with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “It requires a cylindrical building requires a little bit of mapping,” Stewart states. “So there’s the royal coat of arms. The police are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. A wave of shock passed through the police in fluorescent jackets nearby, and they all pile into the hotel.”

A History of Activism

This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first action against Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart had flown a paraglider near the resort where the president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. A year later, officers warned him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.

Confrontation with Police

However, the activists were not overly concerned about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into wanting the protest works,” says Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the message is already out.” Officers was rapid, arriving in the lobby in under three minutes, highly agitated, he remembers. “They were in jumpsuits and caps. They had located the culprits. They charged up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to protect the president. Fortunately, no guns. But they were extremely tense when they entered the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”

Stalling a large number of police officers is a long time. The fact that they were unsure which law to make arrests. Upon finally entering the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “The law is precise: its purpose is to deal with a serious offence. To throw it at an act of journalism, displayed on a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, appeared against the spirit of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. While the others were detained, he melted into the crowd, then soon after was on a train out of Windsor, calling lawyers.

A Second Arrest and Questioning

Some time that night, while the activists sat in cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, this time for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection squad – an irony which was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest involved alleged sex offender. Knowles and his associates just answered every question with: “No comment.” A few minutes into the interview, the officers slid over a photograph: “They asked, did you remove the drawer from this nightstand?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Mr Knowles, do you know anyone who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew what was coming: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives struggled to keep a straight face.”

The Outcome

Just over one month later, every charge was dismissed.