The Department of the Interior said it would restore the gold-plated Arts of War and Arts of Peace equestrian statues located near the Lincoln Memorial.
“We’re auramaxxing Washington, D.C. ahead of America’s 250th birthday,” the Department said in a social media statement, using Gen-Z jargon. “@SecretaryBurgum recently ordered the massive Arts of War and Arts of Peace equestrian statues for regilding for the first time since 1971.”
“The restoration is part of @POTUS’s effort to make the Nation’s Capital safe and beautiful,” the statement read.
The Hill reports that the statues were a gift to the United States from Italy about 75 years ago. The project is set to cost about $5.1 million and is the latest renovation initiative.
The Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool, situated near the statues, was recently renovated. “The Great Reflecting Pool, that stretches between The Lincoln Memorial and The Washington Monument, just opened to ‘rave reviews’ but, maliciously or not, some say, like The Washington Post, it was a ‘paint job,’” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“This was not a paint job. This was highly sophisticated material, industrial strength, that could last for 100 years, applied by very talented people, many of whom came from the Great State of Oklahoma, where I won 77 out of 77 Counties, THREE TIMES, the only President to ever do so,” he continued. “The material is thick, strong, flexible, and has a natural, beautiful color, the dark blue of the American Flag!”
In an April video shared on Truth Social, President Trump said contractors “scrubbed the surface of the existing granite that had been there since 1922, we then grouted all of the granite, fixed it up, took about two weeks, and now we have a nice, clean surface on which we’re putting [an] industrial-grade swimming pool topping.”
