'Team Trump's latest no-bid contract: $5 million to coat horse statues in gold'

[sop]

(MS NOW) "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."

Continued at link:

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

[snowybirdie]

1. At first

I thought this was the Onion! Oh Lord! The horror!

[sop]

3. Gilded Trump equestrian statues will be showing up in parks throughout America next.

[NJCher]

2. dubious at best

Not gonna' happen. As the author points out, they have had plenty of time for this centennial observation and last minute, no-bid contracts mean taxpayers could be overcharged and/or the historical statues damaged.

Let's watch for the appropriate organization to file suit.

Otherwise we could get one of these:



In the farthest stretches of my imagination, I cannot imagine what horrors a tsf job making a gold horse could look like.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. I can.

Source: https://www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org/civil-conversations/nathan-bedford-forrest-reckoning-with-the-devil/

[FakeNoose]

4. Oh man ... $5 million? I would have done it for half of that

I'd use spray paint that washes off with water too.

[LymphocyteLover]

6. perfect -- meanwhile Americans can't afford groceries

[sop]

7. 'The Interior Department quickly gave nearly $100 million in contracts in a rush to beautify D.C.'

"As Trump hurries to put his stamp on a city he’s long denigrated as crumbling and ugly, his administration has doled out tens of millions of dollars for contracts with short timelines and little oversight."

"In total, the Interior Department is spending at least $95 million in taxpayer funds for new D.C. beautification projects, according to a NOTUS review of government spending data. All of the projects identified by NOTUS were initiated between December 2025 and April of this year. About $20 million in contracts, including the gilding of the four horses, have not previously been reported."

"At Meridian Hill park, $4 million was spent to renew the grass and trees across the park, in addition to $11.3 million to restore the fountains that tumble down the park’s lower half. The renovations to Meridian Hill Park alone cost $800,000 more than the price quoted in the original contracts."

"The Freedom Plaza beautification project, originally priced around $9 million, jumped by around $500,000 in costs in April. A month later, a dozen new statues were installed in a rectangular shape around the edges of the park, resembling pieces on a chess board."

"Many of the contracts were awarded without a full and open competition, according to the government contracting database. Instead, the Trump administration applied laws that allow contracts to be awarded to minority-owned, women-owned, or small businesses without the full rigor of an open competition."

https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/national-park-service-dc-beautification-contracts-horse-statues

[Yousufi]

8. 'Team Trump's latest no-bid contract: $5 million to coat horse statues in gold'

It’s referring to a reported no-bid contract and spending on gold coating horse statues, but the context and facts should be confirmed through trusted reporting before forming conclusions.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. 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.