As of spring 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump is spending $5 million in taxpayer money to cover horse statues in Washington, D.C., in gold.
Trump’s administration awarded a $5 million contract, paid for with government funds, for the “full conservation and regilding” of four “equestrian bronze sculptures” in Washington, D.C., which will include applying 23.75-karat gold leaf onto the horses.
It’s unclear how much of the $5 million would specifically go to the application of gold leaf, as the work includes conservation cleaning and repair. However, given the high cost of gold, it’s likely that a substantial chunk of the funds will be spent on gold leaf and its application.
In 2026, social media users claimed U.S. President Donald Trump spent $5 million in taxpayer funds to coat horse statues in gold.
The claim circulated on X, Facebook (archived), Reddit and Threads. Some posts sharing the rumor, including from progressive politicians, also criticized the president for spending money on gold statues as many Americans struggle to afford necessities.
“$5.1 million in taxpayer money to restore 19-foot statues with 23.75-karat gold leaf,” said one X post from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a progressive independent. “Just when you think Trump cannot be more out of touch with the needs of working people, he outdoes himself.”
The rumor originated from a May 28 report by NOTUS, a reputable online news outlet founded by billionaire Politico co-creator Robert L. Allbritton. According to the report, the National Park Service, ahead of America’s 250th anniversary on July 4, aimed to restore four bronze horses in Washington, known, in pairs, as the Arts of War and the Arts of Peace.
“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,” the report reads.
Snopes verified NOTUS’ reporting when we first fact-checked this claim in June 2026 via publicly available government documents and with help from Anna Kramer, the journalist behind the story. However, the filings do not explicitly state what percentage of the contract’s funds cover the cost of gold leaf and its application, as opposed to repairs and conservation.
Given the high price of gold, it is likely that a substantial chunk of the funds will be spent on gold leaf and its application. In one of several Truth Social posts about the gilding process, Trump said the four horse statues will require 55 pounds of gold leaf.
As such, we have rated this claim as mostly true, with a few undetermined details.
In lieu of answering specific questions about the contract’s details, the Department of the Interior — which oversees the NPS — sent an emailed statement about the president “fulfilling his commitment to make D.C. Safe and Beautiful.”
“Across the District, residents and visitors are excited to see the city revitalized to the grand destination it was meant to be,” the June 2026 statement read. “The Arts of Wars statues are currently being regilded ahead of our nation’s 250. This is the first time in 50 years these statues have been regilded.”
Based on Trump’s social media posts, the work was completed on the Arts of War statues, but not the Arts of Peace statues, as of this writing. On July 27, Trump said construction workers were taking down the scaffolding to reveal the regilded sculptures in public. We reached out to the Interior Department to clarify the timeline for regilding the Arts of Peace statues and will update this story if we hear back.
According to the NPS, the Arts of Peace statues weigh 80,000 pounds total and stand 19 feet high, 16 feet long and 8 feet wide. Presumably, the Arts of Wars statues are a similar size, though their dimensions are not listed on the agency’s website.
A look into government filings
The NOTUS story includes a hyperlink to the contract summary for the horses’ conservation and regilding on the official website for the federal government’s spending data (archived).
According to the contract summary, the NPS awarded $4,995,263 on April 21, 2026, to a company called The Gilders’ Studio to “procure the services necessary to complete the work required, including the full conservation and regilding of four (4) monumental equestrian bronze sculptures.”
In June, that award increased to $5,095,253 to cover “supplemental work,” according to the government spending website. As of this writing, the government had paid out $2,847,219.33.
Trump said in a June 12 Truth Social post that The Gilders’ Studio flew in gilders from around the country to complete the work.
The “Federal Account Funding” section shows that the money is coming from the DOI’s “Working Capital Fund, Department Management” — essentially the agency’s bank account for administration and support services.
An additional search for keywords related to the contract on SAM.gov, the government’s award management website, returned a “notice of intent” to award the contract with a detailed description (archived) of the work planned on the horses (emphasis ours):
Work includes:
- Conservation cleaning and stabilization of historic bronze
- Repair of casting defects, corrosion, and failed prior treatments
- Application of corrosion-inhibiting primer system
- Application of 30-gram, 23.75 karat gold leaf, including size, sealers and burnishing.
- Cleaning and repair of granite plinths
- Installation of scaffolding, containment, and environmental controls
- Execution of phased mock-ups for all treatment steps
- Completion within a fixed period ending July 1, 2026
For reference, the purest form of gold available commercially is 24-karat gold.
Kramer also shared a document via email that is available on the SAM.gov website for those who sign into an account. The filing from the Interior Department states on Page 2 that, in accordance with Trump’s executive order announcing a “grand celebration” for America’s 250th birthday, the NPS “must have this work completed by July 4, 2026.”
It was unclear whether that deadline had been moved. Trump said in a June 12 Truth Social post that the Arts of War statues would be “fully regilded by July 3rd.” However, a July 5 post said that only the gilding of “Valor,” one of the two Arts of Wars statues, was completed, and that the other sculpture of the pair, “Sacrifice,” was “rapidly progressing.”
“After ‘Sacrifice’ is regilded, regilding work will begin on the two Arts of Peace sculptures,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Adding to the confusion, Trump said on July 6 that an Interior Department staffer confirmed the gilding of “Sacrifice” was completed, somehow meaning that both Arts of Wars statues were “regilded over one week ahead of schedule.”
How did Trump admin determine $5M price point?
The documents from SAM.gov indicate that the government awarded the $5 million contract to The Gilder’s Studio without considering other contractors. In other words, as NOTUS reported, the NPS “did not do extensive market research on whether the $5 million price was a fair one.”
“Due to the urgent nature of this requirement, market research was limited to available historical data and publicizing a special notice to SAM.gov,” the agency wrote. That “special notice” announced the government’s intent to award the contract to The Gilding Studio while inviting its competitors to demonstrate interest and ability to fulfill the contract instead. However, the notice was only accepting applicants from April 1-6.
“There are no comparable gilding projects of this monumental size, national significance, public visibility, or technical complexity in the Washington, DC area,” the Interior document Kramer shared said, adding that The Gilder’s Studio completed the most comparable gilding project in the area in 2022.
NOTUS also reported that the Interior Department is spending at least $95 million in taxpayer funds for new D.C. beautification projects, many of which have ended up costing more than originally planned. Snopes has not independently verified this number.
