The Aftermath: The Night Led By Donkeys Projected Images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle

When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, complete with a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go without a statement. The gesture of offering a lavish welcome seemed particularly craven. Their subsequent art-activist event proceeded with precision.

A Provocative Film

Activists created a short documentary detailing the connections with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. It concluded: “The president of the United States was a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious sex offender. His name is said to be referenced, numerous times, in documents from the criminal probe into Epstein … Now that president, Donald Trump, is sleeping here in Windsor Castle.” (In response, Trump has stated he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s first arrest and has consistently denied all allegations in relation to Epstein.)

Preparations and Execution

The group had secured rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, rooms advertised with “castle view” and, even more helpfully, “castle view superior”, said a co-founder, Ben Stewart. Their equipment included a high-lumen 32,000-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart placed a wireless speaker, hidden inside a cereal box, on top of a garbage can outside.

The world’s media had gathered, their gaze fixed at the castle, becoming bored as Trump was delayed. Their film, gained traction everywhere. “While the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that convinces people of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers a social object to share, saying: ‘There’s something significant to examine here.’ It was an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was seen 20m times.”

The Reveal

It started with the recognizable Windsor Castle logo. “Projecting onto a cylindrical building needs a little bit of mapping,” Stewart explains. “So there’s this royal crest. Officers are thinking: ‘How pleasant – the royal family,’ and suddenly a massive image of Jeffrey Epstein materializes. This electric jolt goes through the police in fluorescent jackets around me, and they all pile into the hotel.”

Not Their First Protest

This was not their inaugural action; it wasn’t even their first effort targeting Trump. In 2018, during his time with Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a paraglider near the hotel where the then-president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. A year later, officers warned him that if he tried again, they couldn’t guarantee.

Confrontation with Police

However, the group's creators were not overly concerned about arrest. “My nervous energy is channelled into wanting the action to succeed,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “By the time the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” Officers was swift, reaching the hotel in under three minutes, “really pumped up”, he remembers. “They were in jumpsuits and baseball caps. They had located some protesters. They came roaring up the stairs; they were briefed; tasked to safeguard the guest. Fortunately, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I told them: ‘Let’s keep this really calm.’”

Stalling multiple police officers is a long time. The fact that they didn’t know under what law to make arrests. When they finally entered the room, “a policeman started reading a section of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another asked him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other activists were subsequently detained for malicious communications, a law related to harassment. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to deal with a serious offence. To throw it at a piece of journalism, projected on to a wall, to protect the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent of the legislation,” Stewart remarks pointedly. As his colleagues were arrested, he slipped away, then soon after was on a train leaving Windsor, calling lawyers.

A Second Arrest and Questioning

Later in the middle of the night, while the activists were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, police re-entered and arrested them again, this time for public nuisance, deeming it more likely to succeed. During interrogation, the only officers available belonged to the child protection squad – a twist which was not lost on anyone, given the focus of the protest involved Jeffrey Epstein. The activists responded to all queries with: “No comment.” Shortly after starting the interview, police presented a photo: “‘Mr Knowles, did you take the drawer from this bedside table?’ ‘No comment.’ ‘Sir, do you know anyone who may have had reason to remove the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I anticipated the next move: a picture of a giant projector, secured to several drawers. At that point, the officers were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”

The Outcome

A little more than a month later, every charge were dropped.