A senior State Department official reportedly put the brakes on a planned American exhibit featuring a bucking bronco-style bull statue — out of concern the imagery hit too close to an ancient pagan deity linked in online conspiracy circles to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a report from Axios, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau halted the bull statue, originally slated to represent the American West at an international expo in Belgrade next year, after raising alarms last month. His concerns reportedly drew “eye rolls and snickers” from other officials inside the department.
“I remain somewhat concerned by the Golden Bull imagery! Did a quick internet search and don’t want it to become a distraction,” Landau reportedly wrote in an email to staff, invoking the biblical golden calf, which is often depicted as a bull. He went on to compare modern obsessions with wealth — symbolized by Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull statue — to ancient idol worship.
The pagan god in question, Baal, has become entangled in online conspiracy theories tying the deity to Epstein, following reports the disgraced financier had a bank account bearing a similar name. Commentator Candace Owens referenced the connection in a February broadcast titled “BAAL SO HARD: The Epstein Files.”
The report also notes that in the lead-up to what’s being called Operation Epic Fury, Iranian officials reportedly staged rallies where effigies of Baal were burned, with the regime explicitly linking the imagery to Epstein and unfounded claims of a child-sacrifice cult.
Landau, appointed by President Trump at the outset of his second term, has reportedly had a turbulent tenure at the State Department, including internal friction over his approach to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
One unnamed State Department official told Axios the bull controversy will be “sorted out” well before the 2027 expo — “and it won’t be Satanic.”
The episode offers a strange glimpse into the internal deliberations shaping how America presents itself on the world stage, even as more pressing diplomatic priorities dominate headlines.
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