Apparently, Rep Stansbury stands on the side of those who defame, deface, and maliciously undermine the proper maintenance of America's memorials and statues. What President Trump did was see to the restoration of statues and monuments that have been in a state of disrepair and abuse. Her side destroys statues. We all know what that side is. The statue that Stansbury refers to is part of the Lincoln Memorial and is part of a restoration and beautification project. It's difficult to understand why anyone, nonetheless a Member of Congress, would find any legitimate issue with that. And yet, you do. From GROK: The statues were originally gilded, so the work restored that appearance rather than inventing a new gold treatment, though the thick modern gold leaf application produced a much brighter result than the prior weathered state. Those statues are The Arts of War (Valor and Sacrifice, by Leo Friedlander) and The Arts of Peace (Music and Harvest and Aspiration and Literature, by James Earle Fraser). en.wikipedia.org These are four monumental bronze equestrian statue groups (about 19 feet high) on Lincoln Memorial Circle in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., framing approaches near the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Memorial Bridge / Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. They were originally cast in Italy, fire-gilded (gold leaf applied), and installed in 1951 after earlier design and funding delays. They had undergone prior repairs (notably in the 1970s), and the gold coating had faded over decades.en.wikipedia.org The National Park Service (NPS), under the Department of the Interior in the Trump administration, oversaw the restoration. In mid-to-late April 2026, NPS awarded a roughly $5.1 million (approximately $4.995 million) no-bid/sole-source contract to The Gilders’ Studio (also referred to as The Gilder’s Studio), a Maryland-based firm specializing in architectural gilding, for full conservation, structural repairs/stabilization, cleaning, and regilding with a thick layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf.notus.org This was described as the first major regilding in about 50 years. Scaffolding came down and the work was unveiled/completed around late July 2026, timed for America’s 250th anniversary commemorations.en.wikipedia.orgApparently, Rep Stansbury stands on the side of those who defame, deface, and maliciously undermine the proper maintenance of America's memorials and statues.
— Stephen Coughlin (@S_Coughlin_DC) July 31, 2026
What President Trump did was see to the restoration of statues and monuments that have been in a state of disrepair and… https://t.co/Egj5LQzBBG
It was funded with federal taxpayer money through the National Park Service / Department of the Interior. Sources identify the funding account as the DOI’s Working Capital Fund (Department Management). The project was justified in part under Executive Order 14189 (Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday) and formed one element of broader NPS/Interior D.C. beautification and capital projects (tens of millions overall for parks, fountains, paving, and related work in the capital).snopes.com
