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| - The posters were not created or installed by the city of New York, and photographs of them were actually from 2018.
In October 2024, ahead of the U.S. presidential elections and as Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump held a rally in New York City, a series of purported street signs in the area went viral. The photographs showed colorful artwork adorning trash cans in New York City that were seemingly placed by the New York City Department of Sanitation, urging passersby to "Keep NYC Trash Free."
The accompanying illustrations of what constituted "trash" showed people wearing "Make America Great Again" hats (referencing Trump's campaign slogan), carrying Bibles and holding Chick-fil-A cups. One had a Confederate flag tattoo shaped like a heart.
(X user @JerasIkehorn)
However, the pictures did not show real posters put up by the NYC Department of Sanitation — and they were not from 2024. The same images were shared in October 2018, resulting in outrage, which we previously covered.
The NYC Department of Sanitation denied putting up the posters. The images were shared on an Instagram account of artist Winston Tseng, who said he wasn't involved in the installation but that he created the posters. As such, we rate these images as being miscaptioned.
In 2018, the NYC Department of Sanitation issued a statement denying involvement and decrying the illustrations: "These posters were not created or issued by the Department of Sanitation, and we do not condone unlawful defacement of City litter baskets or public property. We are looking into this matter."
As we reported then, Tseng first denied he was involved in the creation and installation of the posters:
For the record, I didn't create or put up these posters. But if I did, I wouldn't want people to take them so seriously, since they're meant to reflect certain parts of our society and not meant to generalize beyond those. I'd just want the intended audience of my fellow "classist elitist New Yorkers" to hopefully be entertained by the "unhelpful, tone-deaf message" as they go about their day in this trash filled liberal bubble.
However, in a 2018 interview with Brooklyn Street Art, a website documenting art on the streets of various cities, Tseng admitted creating the posters:
BSA: So that brings us to the new series you just created and installed: Your subjects are white people only and you are calling them "trash".
TSENG: I wouldn't say its meant to represent all caucasians but certainly they are meant to portray a certain demographic. In this case a segment of white people that I personally believe the posters accurately reflect. The statistics are there that a lot of Trump supporters who wear the MAGA hats come from red states, from the south, and are Christian Evangelicals. Those are the concepts that I included on these posters. I didn't make that up. I'm just reflecting something that is a quantifiable fact.
BSA: Are these posters a direct critique on Trump's policies and ideologies?
TSENG: Yes. But I feel like criticizing Trump, because he kind of doesn't seem to really believe strongly in any ideologies or policy, is not the source of the issue in my mind. The source of the issue is the segment of America who supports him and authorizes him to make the decisions that he makes. I'm not sure if he believes strongly in them or if he is just pandering and just wants to win a popularity contest amongst certain demographics. I think that there's a lot of anti-Trump art work out there, but taking a step back one realizes that he is not doing this on his own and the same goes with the policies he announces where he just tells people what they want to hear.
BSA: What was your goal when you were creating these series?
TSENG: It's always just a personal expression. I'm not one to think that I'm going to change anyone's mind by doing this. There's a bit of humor in it and I'm hoping that people are entertained by it. I think that the majority of New Yorkers would probably agree with that just based on the statistics of liberals versus conservatives in New York. So it's personal expression. It is the entertaining factor. It is sort of a stress relief for me, just to get it out there.
Soon after the images spread, U.S. President Joe Biden made reference to Trump supporters and garbage. Biden was responding to racist remarks made at Trump's New York City rally, where a speaker referred to Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage." Biden said in response, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter's — his— his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American."
The president's critics interpreted his remarks as referring to Trump's supporters as garbage, while the White House said he was speaking about their rhetoric. Later, Biden's X account posted a statement clarifying the president's remarks: "I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say."
Snopes' archives contributed to this report.
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