May 29, 2026
Donald Trump’s obsession with gold is spilling outside of the White House. The National Park Service has awarded a $5 million contract to a Maryland gilding studio to repair four bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial in time for the celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The contract was awarded without a full competition, according to reports.
It’s the latest in an increasingly expensive series of upgrades around the nation’s capital. One study by the nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based news outlet NOTUS found the Interior Department has distributed at least $95 million for beautification projects around the district, $20 million of which (including the horse contract) have not been officially reported.
Rising prices
The job is a restoration project, rather than adding new gold. The horses, two pairs that are known as the Arts of War and Arts of Peace, have a gold-toned coating that was last updated in the 1970s. The contract also includes work beyond the gold leaf.
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Still, gold prices are certainly impacting the price of the project. Since the start of the year, gold futures have increased roughly 5.5%. In the past year, they’ve shot up more than 36%, thanks to rising geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns, and several Wall Street banks believe that rise will only continue in the coming years.
The horse statues will be overlaid with a thick layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf.
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Questions about contracting
While governmental spending of this sort is not unexpected, given the upcoming semiquincentennial celebration, the lack of transparency has raised eyebrows.
“Bypassing competition laws for park restoration work is just naked cronyism,” wrote one Redditor when learning about the contract. “I’m fine with cleaning/repairing statues, but Trump makes everything into a fraud/bribery scheme.”
The Gilders’ Studio, the company that was awarded the contract, is a well-known and respected firm. It recently refinished the exterior of the Wyoming state capitol with a thinner gold leaf than is being used on the statues. It is not, however, the only company qualified to do the work. Yet, the project was awarded without a full competition.
The park service reportedly cited the desire to have the work completed before July 4 as the reason the contract was awarded in that manner.
The notice for the work, NOTUS reports, was only posted for six days before it was filled — and the park service did not do extensive market research to determine if the $5 million price was fair, citing the urgent nature of the requirement.
Beyond the work being done on the horse statues, the National Park Service has many more beautification projects happening in the District of Columbia, including a $3.6 million contract to rehabilitate Logan Circle and spending $5+ million to repave the marble around the Simón Bolivar statue, which is near the National Mall.
Many of those projects have seen their costs increase since the contracts were awarded.
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
