If you thought the gold look was just an Oval Office thing, think again. The Trump administration has been quietly pouring tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into turning Washington, D.C. into something that looks a lot more like the lobby of Trump Tower. We’re talking gold leaf on horse statues, gold cherubs above doorways, gold coasters with the number 47 on them, and a $95 million beautification tab that keeps growing. And the centerpiece of the latest spending revelation? Five million dollars to coat four bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial in nearly pure gold.
$5 Million for Four Golden Horses
The four massive bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial are getting a serious glow-up. Known as the “Arts of War” and “Arts of Peace,” these statue pairs have been standing since 1951. Their previous gold-tone coating from a 1970s restoration has faded over the decades, turning patchy and dull. Now, the National Park Service has awarded a $5 million contract to The Gilders’ Studio, a Maryland company, to restore and regild them in 23.75-karat gold leaf. That’s almost pure gold, and the layer being applied is unusually thick. Thicker and purer, in fact, than what the same studio used when they refinished the dome of the Wyoming state capitol seven years ago.
The contract was handed out in mid-April 2026 without full competitive bidding. The Park Service cited the urgency of getting it done before the July 4, 2026 anniversary celebrations. But multiple gilding experts told reporters that The Gilders’ Studio, while reputable, isn’t the only company that could have done the job. Peter Sepp, who runs a major gold-leaf supplier in New York, said plainly: “There are others that are also qualified that were not contacted.” Others in the industry declined to comment on the record, worried about burning bridges with the Park Service.
The $95 Million Beautification Blitz
The horse statues are just one piece of a much bigger picture. A review of government spending data revealed that the Interior Department has spent at least $95 million on D.C. beautification projects since December 2025. About $20 million of those contracts, including the gilding project, hadn’t been previously reported. The projects range from marble repaving to fountain restorations to park upgrades across the capital. Freedom Plaza, Meridian Hill Park, Logan Circle, and the area around the Simón Bolívar statue are all getting multimillion-dollar facelifts. Trump even suggested at a recent Cabinet meeting that the renovation push would extend to the fountain at the World War II Memorial, and said crews are working on 28 fountains across D.C.
Every single one of these projects was initiated between December 2025 and April 2026, and the administration has justified the compressed timelines by pointing to Executive Order 14189, “Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday.” That order, signed by Trump, set July 4, 2026, as the deadline for a transformed capital. The Interior Department says the rush means more people, more materials, more equipment, and longer hours, all of which drive up costs.
The Reflecting Pool Fiasco
Perhaps the most telling example of how these beautification projects have ballooned is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation. Trump originally said it would cost about $1.8 million and take one to two weeks. He even claimed on May 7, 2026, that previous estimates to fix the pool had run as high as $355 million over 3.5 years. The actual cost? $13.1 million, with $6.2 million of that added beyond what was initially known. The project stretched past a month.
The contract went to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a company with no prior federal contracts. It was a no-bid deal, using an exemption intended for urgent situations. A National Park Service analysis found that while the typical profit margin for a job like this is 6% to 12%, Atlantic Industrial Coatings is getting a 20% profit margin. That means the company is charging the government at least $850,000 more than would be considered average. Trump pushed back, posting on Truth Social: “I didn’t give out the contract, Interior did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before.” The Cultural Landscape Foundation even filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against the Interior Department, citing concerns about permanent damage to the landmark.
The Oval Office Gets the Mar-a-Lago Treatment
While the horse statues and reflecting pool are taxpayer-funded, the Oval Office gold makeover came out of Trump’s own pocket, according to the White House. And it shows. The room has been loaded up with gold-plated moldings, medallions, mirrors, cherubs, eagles, and ornate trim around doors, the fireplace, and bookcases. Gold accents were added to the white marble fireplace mantel. Gold coasters bearing Trump’s name and the number 47 sit on display. The presidential seal on the ceiling, originally a subtle plaster relief added by FDR in 1934, now gleams with gilded detailing.
Trump even flew his personal “gold guy” to Washington to oversee the work. That’s John Icart, a Florida designer who had previously worked on Trump’s Palm Beach estate. Icart reportedly flew to D.C. aboard Air Force One. Some of the gold cherubs looking down from above the Oval Office doorways were shipped directly from Mar-a-Lago. A White House spokesperson told Fox News the gold is “of the highest quality” but declined to say how much was added or what it cost. When asked about the aesthetic during a Laura Ingraham interview, Trump said the room “needed a little life” and noted that “throughout the years, people have tried to come up with a gold paint that would look like gold, and they’ve never been able to do it.”
A $300 Million Ballroom and the East Wing Demolition
The gold accents are just the beginning of Trump’s physical transformation of the White House. The most ambitious project by far is a new ballroom, a 90,000-square-foot addition designed to hold about 900 guests for state dinners and official events. The East Wing was demolished in October 2025 to make room for the construction. The price tag has shifted depending on who’s talking, with some reports putting it at $200 million and others at $300 million. Trump and what the White House has called “patriot donors” are covering the bill. The White House called the ballroom a “much-needed and exquisite addition.”
The Cabinet Room has also been redone. Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino Jr. showed off 24-karat gold decals, gold-framed portraits, ornate moldings, and a gilded mirror that was pulled from a White House vault. Additional paintings were hung on the walls. The whole vibe is maximalist in a way the White House hasn’t really seen before.
Trump as Builder in Chief
If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that Trump is deeply, personally invested in this stuff. At a Cabinet meeting on May 27, 2026, Trump spent a full 10 minutes describing his beautification projects in great detail. He made careful distinctions between sandblasting and pebble-blasting. He talked about fixing city fountains and power-washing pools. He narrated the reflecting pool renovation. The construction update took up roughly one-eighth of the entire 80-minute meeting, during which there were only passing references to spiking gas prices, a weakening economy, and the ongoing situation in Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had to steer the conversation back to Iran, joking that the reflecting pool discussion was “a great segue.”
“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a statement. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the updates during a speech, saying he’d been coming to the White House for 65 years and “it has never looked better.” Trump himself seems to agree. “D.C. is looking beautiful,” he said.
The Spending Contradiction
What makes all of this especially interesting is the contrast with the rest of Trump’s budget. For the upcoming fiscal year, he’s proposing to cut discretionary domestic spending by more than 22%, a $163 billion reduction. That includes more than $32 billion in cuts across agencies responsible for weather monitoring, ocean research, parks, and conservation. The organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) flagged the gap between the administration’s stated commitment to fiscal efficiency and the growing tab for these aesthetic projects.
PEER’s analysis tallied nearly half a billion dollars in spending on projects like the military parade (estimated at $45 million), the ballroom, new Oval Office decor, Air Force One upgrades, and a planned statuary garden. The 250th anniversary celebration itself is expected to cost taxpayers around $100 million, with final costs likely to climb. Add in the $95 million in beautification contracts and the picture gets even bigger.
There’s also the question of where some of the money might come from. A report from ABC News in early May 2026 suggested the administration could be moving toward a $400 million settlement with TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, with money potentially directed toward the beautification push. That settlement would resolve a 2024 child privacy lawsuit started under the Biden administration. Nothing is finalized, but the idea of TikTok settlement money funding golden horse statues is the kind of detail that pretty much writes itself.
Whether you see all of this as a president with vision for his capital city or an expensive exercise in personal taste, one thing is undeniable: Washington, D.C., is getting a lot more gold these days. And the bill is getting bigger by the week.