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riversedge

(81,710 posts)
Sat May 30, 2026, 03:37 AM Yesterday

Another No-Bid Contract, This Time For Gold-Plated Horses

Source: crooksandliars.com





There's no excuse like a semiquincentennial to spend millions on gold-plated everything.


By Karoli Kuns — May 29, 2026

Another no-bid contract has been issued, this time to gild statues in Washington, D.C. surrounding the Lincoln Monument in 24-karat gold. The statues are equestrian statues known as Arts of War and Arts of Peace. An Arts of War statue is pictured above.

These statues are bronze, so that a good cleaning and polishing would have been enough to bring out their features, and freshen their looks while leaving a lovely patina on them.

But President Grifter wanted them covered in the same quality of gold used to cover Wyoming's state capitol dome seven years ago. Because why not? It's only taxpayer money, after all.



.................

Read more: https://crooksandliars.com/2026/05/another-no-bid-contract-time-gold-plated







"Arts of War" statueCredit: Getty Images



?s=20





The Trump Administration Is Spending Million to Coat Horse Statues in Gold

The Interior Department quickly gave nearly 0 million in contracts in a rush to beautify D.C.
Bronze Horses 07

www.notus.org/trump-white-...

(@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-05-30T07:34:50.531Z







33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Another No-Bid Contract, This Time For Gold-Plated Horses (Original Post) riversedge Yesterday OP
Their natural patina will be destroyed /nt TexasBushwhacker Yesterday #1
That's what he does, ruins everything, The People's House grounds, the East Wing, the Reflecting Pool Rhiannon12866 Yesterday #2
He's a sandbox bully. But he's not going to live forever. littlemissmartypants Yesterday #3
What's next? Applying gold leaf to the Lincoln Memorial statue? 🤢🤮 QueerDuck Yesterday #4
It'll be worse than that. COL Mustard Yesterday #20
Oh dear god, don't give him any ideas! PatSeg Yesterday #23
Small adjustment to wording needed. ShazzieB Yesterday #5
Just some guy obsessed with power and gold. OGBuzz Yesterday #6
Get a court order and stop this nonsense. Those statues are just fine as is. Botany Yesterday #7
When your gutting Medicaid by $9B+ per year starting in Jan 2027 Bengus81 Yesterday #8
We need to keep talking to people about the Medicaid cuts coming 2027 travelingthrulife Yesterday #15
Yep....purposely postponed until after the mid terms Bengus81 Yesterday #28
He sure is an expert at "waste, fraud and abuse." MLWR Yesterday #9
Waste and fraud... GiqueCee Yesterday #10
Aww, jeez Bayard Yesterday #11
Certainly more important than feeding a bunch of hungry kids! broiles Yesterday #12
So much for government efficiency ChicagoTeamster Yesterday #13
From another thread... jeffreyi Yesterday #14
Lincoln Memorial. Washington Monument. twodogsbarking Yesterday #16
That fucking moron. Patina adds to value and coating it with gold plate devalues it dramatically. Vinca Yesterday #17
That whole reality reminds me of "German Nazi Hillbilly" chouchou Yesterday #18
What a shame Figarosmom Yesterday #19
This is just Art Vandalism Hieronymus Phact Yesterday #21
Is that $5 Million Total or Each ? PhilG Yesterday #22
An old story... homegirl Yesterday #24
They only want to deal with companies that will kick back Trump's SHARE! And keep their mouths shut! usaf-vet Yesterday #25
He's a fat version of Goldmember sakabatou Yesterday #26
Not "plated;" LEAFED! Grins Yesterday #27
they were gilded in the 70s this is just restoring that. Blues Heron Yesterday #29
Im just wondering when slightlv Yesterday #30
King Midas Syndrome PennyC Yesterday #31
MaddowBlog-Team Trump's latest no-bid contract: $5 million to coat horse statues in gold LetMyPeopleVote 23 hrs ago #32
Trump LOSES Control As Unimaginable Gold Statue Demand Unveiled - The Damage Report Rhiannon12866 17 hrs ago #33

Rhiannon12866

(259,507 posts)
2. That's what he does, ruins everything, The People's House grounds, the East Wing, the Reflecting Pool
Sat May 30, 2026, 04:43 AM
Yesterday

The list goes on, and on...

PatSeg

(53,686 posts)
23. Oh dear god, don't give him any ideas!
Sat May 30, 2026, 11:52 AM
Yesterday

You just know that is something he would do.

ShazzieB

(22,948 posts)
5. Small adjustment to wording needed.
Sat May 30, 2026, 08:37 AM
Yesterday

"The Interior Department quickly gave nearly $100 million in contracts in a rush to Trumpify D.C."

There, that sounds more accurate.

Botany

(77,961 posts)
7. Get a court order and stop this nonsense. Those statues are just fine as is.
Sat May 30, 2026, 08:44 AM
Yesterday

BTW Trump does not own those statues and has zero say about what can be done to them.

Bengus81

(10,418 posts)
8. When your gutting Medicaid by $9B+ per year starting in Jan 2027
Sat May 30, 2026, 08:50 AM
Yesterday

you can do loads of senseless SHIT like this. Hell....just gold leaf the entire WH and have it fucking over with.

travelingthrulife

(5,654 posts)
15. We need to keep talking to people about the Medicaid cuts coming 2027
Sat May 30, 2026, 10:12 AM
Yesterday

or people will believe the Democrats did it. That's the whole point of doing it after the midterms.

People in medical and dental clinics know nothing about it.

Bengus81

(10,418 posts)
28. Yep....purposely postponed until after the mid terms
Sat May 30, 2026, 02:45 PM
Yesterday

They know how devastating it will be and then you can add nine more years to it unless we get in and stop this insanity. Dems need to get after this all the way to November,and then start railing on Republicants after the election.

MLWR

(1,100 posts)
9. He sure is an expert at "waste, fraud and abuse."
Sat May 30, 2026, 08:53 AM
Yesterday

No other POTUS in history was so hellbent on wasting taxpayer dollars on frivolous, unnecessary, superficial BS.

GiqueCee

(4,865 posts)
10. Waste and fraud...
Sat May 30, 2026, 09:15 AM
Yesterday

... thy name is so unspeakably revolting that it actually has its own stomach-turning odor. Let flatulence be forever named for its champion of Depends: TRUMP

As is always the case, I strongly suspect that the appropriate protocols and procedures for initiating and funding such an asinine undertaking have been totally ignored in favor of servile obeisance to an edict from His Royal Excrescence.

Vinca

(54,425 posts)
17. That fucking moron. Patina adds to value and coating it with gold plate devalues it dramatically.
Sat May 30, 2026, 10:34 AM
Yesterday

PhilG

(64 posts)
22. Is that $5 Million Total or Each ?
Sat May 30, 2026, 11:32 AM
Yesterday

Knowing what a good businessman and negotiator Donald is, it's probably each. But Holy Crap! We've got people living under bridges. Families going hungry. Gas & diesel prices through the roof. Prices on groceries higher & higher not to mention "shrinkage". Add in a war he started and he has time to cover perfectly fine bronze statues in gold?


JFC !

homegirl

(2,002 posts)
24. An old story...
Sat May 30, 2026, 01:02 PM
Yesterday

King Midas story...everything was gold, If I remember correctly he even had himself gold plated, and died. Will that be Donald's final act?
Also wasn't that part of the James Bond move, Goldfinger?


usaf-vet

(7,868 posts)
25. They only want to deal with companies that will kick back Trump's SHARE! And keep their mouths shut!
Sat May 30, 2026, 01:18 PM
Yesterday

Grins

(9,549 posts)
27. Not "plated;" LEAFED!
Sat May 30, 2026, 01:29 PM
Yesterday

And in almost pure gold.

Hard to get any more narcissist than that!

slightlv

(8,053 posts)
30. Im just wondering when
Sat May 30, 2026, 04:45 PM
Yesterday

The long legged pink flamingo statues will show up on the WH lawn! Will they also be gilded? I mean every white trash trailer park I've seen proudly displays pink flamingos.

The White Trash administration. I used to hate that moniker... being always on the low end of the economic scale, but I've got no othet way to describe it. Bordello just doesn't do it justice anymore.

LetMyPeopleVote

(182,705 posts)
32. MaddowBlog-Team Trump's latest no-bid contract: $5 million to coat horse statues in gold
Sat May 30, 2026, 07:27 PM
23 hrs ago

The Republican’s administration’s aggressive renovation agenda for the nation’s capital now includes yet another controversial addition.

Team Trump’s latest no-bid contract: million to coat horse statues in gold.

The Republican’s administration’s aggressive renovation agenda for the nation’s capital now includes yet another controversial addition.

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

TheBlackPage (Woke, DEI forever against fascism) (@theblackpage.bsky.social) 2026-05-30T15:24:25.981Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/team-trumps-latest-no-bid-contract-5-million-to-coat-horse-statues-in-gold

Donald Trump and his team haven’t exactly been subtle about their gold fixation. Since the president returned to power, Americans have seen an emphasis on everything from “Gold Cards” to a “Golden Dome” to a “Golden Fleet” of U.S. battleships. (And don’t get me started on the many gold trinkets Trump plastered on the walls of the Oval Office.)

So perhaps it’s not too surprising that the Republican’s administration is also adding gold coats to the White House’s aggressive renovation agenda for the nation’s capital. NOTUS reported:

Four massive bronze horses positioned along the roads surrounding the Lincoln Memorial still shine in the sun from their first restoration in the 1970s. But their gold-toned coating is faded and patchy, and their heavy stone bases are cracked and dirty.

The Trump administration wants them glittering with a fresh coat of gold in time for America’s 250th anniversary on July 4. So in mid-April, the National Park Service handed a $5 million contract to a gilding studio in Maryland to repair the statues and cover them with a thick layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf
.


.....It comes against a backdrop of a president focused on his ballroom vanity project, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the installation of a White House helipad, the construction of a massive “triumphal arch” near Arlington National Cemetery, renovating the White House Treaty Room and the Kennedy Center, his plans for a “statue garden,” his sudden interest in fountains around the nation’s capital and a dozen or so additional renovation projects he’s prioritized in and around the White House complex.

A recent Fox News poll asked respondents, “Do you think Donald Trump cares about people like you, or not?” Only 37% of Americans said they believe the president does in fact care about people like them.

There’s no reason to assume that number can’t sink lower.
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