Meditate, Be At Peace, Trump Buddha Statue Designer Tells Ex-US President

Hong Jinshi was inspired by the potential contrast provided by the two extremisms of Buddhism and a former leader known for his sharp outbursts.

Chinese furniture maker Hong Jinshi first created a couple of pint-sized statues of former U.S. President Donald Trump meditating in a Buddhist pose as a fun project for himself last year. Six months on, Hong's amusing hobby has turned into a small side-hustle, with a workshop in the town of Dehua in Fujian province on track to produce an inaugural batch of 250 statues of Trump dressed in Buddhist robes with his legs crossed. Hong was inspired by the potential contrast provided by the two extremisms of Buddhism and a former leader known for his sharp outbursts. "Our tradition is that a person who is so old and successful ... should start to enjoy his old age and be more relaxed, but he was still tormented and fretting over various desires and uncertainties," Hong said.