Baal out: Top diplomat's worry about pagan god elicits eye rolls

The second-most powerful man at the State Department put the brakes on a U.S. international exhibit featuring a bull statue because he worried it might look like Baal, a pagan god some associate with Satanic child sacrifice. Why it matters: The anecdote illustrates the quirky interests of Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau, according to department critics, who say he spends too much time on social media focusing on the unimportant.

Zoom in: The issue revolves around an international exposition next year in Belgrade, Serbia, where the U.S. plans to feature a statue of a bucking bull at an exhibit celebrating the American West.

• On Aug. 19, at 4:15 p.m., Landau sent an email to staffers about it: "I remain somewhat concerned by the Golden Bull imagery! Did a quick internet search and don't want it to become a distraction. The golden calf from the Bible is often portrayed as a golden bull."
• Providing hyperlinked footnotes and images of golden bull worship, Landau explored the ancient history of Baal as well as the "Modern Cultural Comparisons."
• "The imagery of a golden bull or calf is frequently invoked metaphorically today," he wrote. "For instance, critics and commentators sometimes compare modern financial fixations—typified by the famous Charging Bull statue on Wall Street to the ancient worship of material idols."

Behind the scenes: The email, which was forwarded to multiple officials, elicited eyerolls and snickers inside the State Department.

• The bull statue was put on hold as State officials spent the last few weeks debating how to make it both interesting and non-Satanic.
• "It's just totally weird stuff and it's really indicative of the guy," a State Department official said.
• "Literally, no one thinks about Baal unless they're spending way too much time online, which Landau is," a different U.S. official lamented.
• "It's like an episode of Veep. Someone should tell him this is a Western bull, not a Near East bull," a third U.S. official said.
• Landau declined to comment through a State Department spokesperson.

Between the lines: Mentions of Baal spiked this year amid a wave of online antisemitism linked to Iranian propaganda and conspiracy theories about the Jeffrey Epstein files.

• In late January, a conspiracy theory spread on X that Epstein had a bank account named Baal, a name some online commentators have linked to child sacrifice. A Yahoo fact check found that the "Baal" reference was actually an AI scanning error for "bank."
• Weeks later, just before the U.S. and Israel unleashed their Feb. 28 bombing campaign, Iranian officials organized rallies across the country where people burned effigies of Baal. The regime specifically linked the symbol to Epstein and an alleged cult of child sacrifice.
• Around this time, right-wing podcaster Candace Owens made an episode called "BAAL SO HARD: The Epstein Files." It has nearly 3 million views.

Zoom out: Landau became a State Department online sensation during President Trump's first term while serving as ambassador to Mexico, according to Slate.

• His private account, @ChrisLandauUSA, has nearly 248,000 followers, where he posts sometimes-quirky content like AI-animated sweet potatoes.
• In March, Landau was criticized for using his official account to reply neutrally to a bigoted account complaining that passports now look like a "zogpass," a reference to the antisemitic acronym "ZOG" that stands for a "Zionist Occupied Government" controlled by Jews.

Friction point: Landau has had repeated internal dustups within the Trump administration, sources tell Axios.

• He repeatedly clashed with Paolo Zampolli, a friend of President Trump, who appointed Zampolli as U.S. Special Representative for Global Partnerships.
• In June, other U.S. officials accused Landau of "going rogue" concerning the administration's position on exiled Venezuelan leader Maria Corina Machado, Axios first reported.
• Last week, the Daily Mail reported Landau almost orchestrated the firing of another Trump ally, Gavin Wax, from his State Department post over a lunch Wax had with Serbian officials.

The backstory: Wax's boss, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, is technically in charge of planning the exposition in Serbia next year. But a senior U.S. official said her role was "hijacked" by Landau.

• "This is not the D's job," the official said, referring to the single initial nickname for the Deputy Secretary of State used at Foggy Bottom. "This was just regular planning until he stepped in."
• Landau, the official noted, was quick to pooh-pooh one item featured at prior expositions: "No one cares about the moonrock," Landau has said repeatedly.
• For the American West exhibit, the department's director of art in embassies, Erin Scavino, recommended featuring a mechanical bucking bull that people could ride. But that idea was scrapped after department officials determined that liability exposure in Serbia was too great.

What they're not saying: Rogers also declined to comment through a State Department spokesperson. Wax and Scavino couldn't be reached.

What's next: Expo 2027 Belgrade is scheduled to run from May 15 to Aug. 15, 2027.

• "We'll have the bull sorted out by then," one of the officials said. "And it won't be Satanic."