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

[riversedge]

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.



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

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"Arts of War" statueCredit: Getty Images

Link to tweet

?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

[TexasBushwhacker]

1. Their natural patina will be destroyed /nt

[Rhiannon12866]

2. That's what he does, ruins everything, The People's House grounds, the East Wing, the Reflecting Pool

The list goes on, and on...

[littlemissmartypants]

3. He's a sandbox bully. But he's not going to live forever.

Let him FAFO. Our turn is coming.

[QueerDuck]

4. What's next? Applying gold leaf to the Lincoln Memorial statue? 🤢🤮

[COL Mustard]

20. It'll be worse than that.

I can only imagine he wants his statue there, replacing Abe.

[PatSeg]

23. Oh dear god, don't give him any ideas!

You just know that is something he would do.

[ShazzieB]

5. Small adjustment to wording needed.

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

There, that sounds more accurate.

[OGBuzz]

6. Just some guy obsessed with power and gold.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8BxMIj1cOlg

[Botany]

7. Get a court order and stop this nonsense. Those statues are just fine as is.

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

[Bengus81]

8. When your gutting Medicaid by $9B+ per year starting in Jan 2027

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

[travelingthrulife]

15. We need to keep talking to people about the Medicaid cuts coming 2027

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]

28. Yep....purposely postponed until after the mid terms

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]

9. He sure is an expert at "waste, fraud and abuse."

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

[GiqueCee]

10. Waste and fraud...

... 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.

[Bayard]

11. Aww, jeez

Keep your filthy little hands off our stuff!

[broiles]

12. Certainly more important than feeding a bunch of hungry kids!

[ChicagoTeamster]

13. So much for government efficiency

[jeffreyi]

14. From another thread...

Temu bukkake
Hat tip to Rick Wilson

[twodogsbarking]

16. Lincoln Memorial. Washington Monument.

[Vinca]

17. That fucking moron. Patina adds to value and coating it with gold plate devalues it dramatically.

[chouchou]

18. That whole reality reminds me of "German Nazi Hillbilly"

[Figarosmom]

19. What a shame

[Hieronymus Phact]

21. This is just Art Vandalism

no different than "Tagging" an overpass with spay paint..

[PhilG]

22. Is that $5 Million Total or Each ?

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]

24. An old story...

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]

25. They only want to deal with companies that will kick back Trump's SHARE! And keep their mouths shut!

[sakabatou]

26. He's a fat version of Goldmember

[Grins]

27. Not "plated;" LEAFED!

And in almost pure gold.

Hard to get any more narcissist than that!

[Blues Heron]

29. they were gilded in the 70s this is just restoring that.

[slightlv]

30. Im just wondering when

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.

[PennyC]

31. King Midas Syndrome

I'm waiting for him to try and cover Ivanka in gold.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

32. MaddowBlog-Team Trump's latest no-bid contract: $5 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.

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.

[Rhiannon12866]

33. Trump LOSES Control As Unimaginable Gold Statue Demand Unveiled - The Damage Report

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1322117003