New chapter for Roald Dahl’s Matilda as she takes on Trump

A STATUE of Donald Trump being stared down by Roald Dahl character Matilda has been unveiled near one of the former homes of the Cardiffborn author.

The statues, which depicts Matilda Wormwood looking defiant with hands on hips in the face of the US president, have been installed to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of children’s book Matilda.

The idea for the statues came from a public survey by The Roald Dahl Story Company which sought to find out what people think Matilda would be doing if she was alive today and in her thirties – with 42% of people agreeing that President Trump was the person she would be standing up to.

In the novel, Matilda famously stands up to her cruel headmistress Miss Trunchbull.

Bernie Hall, from The Roald Dahl Story Company, said: “Matilda demonstrates that it’s possible for anyone, no matter how small and powerless they feel, to defeat the Trunchbulls in their own lives - a message that feels more relevant today than it did 30 years ago.”

The statues stand in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, the town where the late author lived for 36 years.

Lexicographer and Matilda fan Susie Dent said: “It’s not surprising to hear that Donald Trump has been voted the figure Mollie Sutton, eight, takes a look at the new statue of Roald Dahl’s Matilda with Donald Trump

she would be most likely to stand up to in 2018 - many clearly see in him some similar traits to the fictional headmistress Miss Trunchbull.”

Of those polled, 42% thought Trump would be Matilda’s most likely modern-day nemesis, with other popular suggestions for who she would be standing up to today including Theresa May (21%) and Piers Morgan (16%).