Trump’s Literal Gilded Age
This article critiques President Trump's aesthetic choices in Washington D.C., specifically focusing on the installation of gold-leaf statues and the redecoration of the White House. The author characterizes these changes as a reflection of the president's personal brand of opulence.
Why it matters
The use of public funds for presidential aesthetic projects often sparks debate regarding the intersection of personal taste and public office.
Taxpayers are now enabling the president’s decades-long love of gold.
Kevin Carter / Getty August 2, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save W hen you approach the freshly gilded twin statues near the Lincoln Memorial, there is no mistaking that they are gold. Very, very gold. Distractingly gold—or, more precisely, covered in 23.75-karat gold leaf costing $5.1 million. The 19-foot statues, called The Arts of War , were once easy to miss but now look a bit like oversized children’s trophies, especially next to the classical and austere Lincoln Memorial. Seeing them is as if, on the walk between Arlington National Cemetery and the National Mall, you’d suddenly stumbled upon a P. F. Chang’s.
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