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

When plans were revealed for the former president's upcoming official trip, including a Windsor Castle banquet on 17 September 2025, the protest group Led By Donkeys felt compelled to ensure it did not go unprotested. The gesture of rolling out the red carpet was viewed as particularly craven. Their next creative protest unfolded like clockwork.

A Deliberate Message

The group produced a short documentary detailing Donald Trump’s relationship with notorious figure Jeffrey Epstein. Its ending stated: “The commander-in-chief of the United States was a longstanding associate of America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be mentioned, numerous times, in the files from the investigation into that individual … Now that very man, Donald Trump, is a guest in Windsor Castle.” (For his part, Trump maintains he fell out with Epstein long prior to Epstein’s initial legal troubles and repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing concerning Epstein.)

Preparations and Execution

The activists had booked rooms in the adjacent Harte and Garter hotel, which boast views of the castle and, more crucially, “castle view superior”, according to a co-founder, Ben Stewart. They utilized a high-lumen projector. To broadcast sound, Stewart positioned a wireless speaker, concealed within a box of cereal, on top of a public rubbish bin outside.

International press was assembled, their gaze fixed at the castle, growing restless as Trump was delayed. Their film, spread rapidly everywhere. “Although the still pictures of Epstein and Trump spread like wildfire online,” Stewart notes, “I doubt that persuades anyone of anything – it just makes Trump uneasy. The film we made provides viewers something tangible to share, implying: ‘This is something really serious to look at here.’ We took an act of activist journalism about Trump and Epstein, and it was viewed by millions.”

The Reveal

It started with the official Windsor Castle logo. “It requires the castle's round tower needs some technical calibration,” Stewart states. “First appeared this royal crest. Officers likely thought: ‘How pleasant – a royal tribute,’ and then abruptly a great big picture of Jeffrey Epstein appears. This electric jolt passed through the officers around me, and the police raced into the hotel.”

Not Their First Protest

This was not the group’s first rodeo; it wasn’t even their first effort targeting Trump. Back in 2018, while working for Greenpeace, Stewart piloted a motorized paraglider near the hotel where the president was staying during a visit to Turnberry. The following year, officers warned him that if he tried again, his safety wasn't assured.

Confrontation with Police

But, the group's creators weren't overly concerned about arrest. “All my anxiety is channelled into wanting the protest works,” notes Oliver Knowles, a fellow founder. “Once the police make the intervention, the die is cast.” The police response was rapid, arriving in the lobby within 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; they were on a mission to safeguard the guest. Thankfully, no guns. But they were extremely tense upon entering the room. I had to say: ‘We should keep this calm.’”

Delaying multiple police officers for six minutes. It helped that they didn’t know which law to charge anyone. Upon finally entering the room, “one officer began reciting a clause of the Town and Country Planning Act, before another told him to stop as it was incorrect.” Knowles and three other team members were subsequently detained for malicious communication, a stalking law. “and it’s very specific: it’s designed to address a really concerning offence. Applying it to a piece of journalism, displayed on a wall, in defense of the reputation of the president, seemed contrary to the intent 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

Later in the middle of the night, as the detainees were in the cells at Maidenhead police station, officers came in and re-arrested them, this time for causing a public nuisance, having decided more likely to succeed. When they came to be questioned, the sole available interrogators belonged to the child protection unit – a twist that was not lost on anyone, given the subject matter of the protest concerned alleged sex offender. The activists just answered all queries 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 anybody else who may have had cause to take the drawer?’ ‘No comment.’ I knew the next move: a picture of a large projector, secured to four drawers. Then, the detectives were finding it hard to maintain their composure.”

The Outcome

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