Trump, as he always does when he redecorates made a big deal about his refurbishing the Arts of War and Peace statues at the Memorial Bridge – just in time for July 4. The gold leaf covering them (that work was done in the mid 1970s) had been literally wearing thin, deteriorating due to weather, pollution etc. Trump claimed the refurbishment he ordered would be 24K (actually it was 23.75K – almost pure gold) but there are no doubts about his claims. After mere months, the ‘pure gold’ is melting! Kind of like his approval ratings and his Party’s control of Congress.
It’s been over twenty years since I’ve been in the DC area but I lived in northern VA (suburban DC) for almost twenty years and went by/and back and forth across that bridge countless times. I’ve seen pictures of them from just before the refurbishment work began and have to admit they needed some sprucing up. It’s not the first time refurbishing was warranted and took place, but having a thoroughly corrupt President putting his grubby little hands on the project made me worry about how it would turn out. Well, it’s looking like this ‘renovation’ is of Lincoln Reflecting Pool quality, or lack thereof. Another no-bid contract that was far over the original estimated cost.
More specifically, as this article from the Irish Star tells us the ’24K gold’ is melting. The Arts of War and Peace, two statues flanking the entrance to the Memorial Bridge from Virginia were completed first. (there are two more statues in the collection on the DC side) As I said earlier, showing off the shiny new gold statues for his flop of a 250th anniversary of our 4th of July was, like the Reflecting Pool something Trump was obsessed with. So much so that instead of having Congress allocate funds or getting some tech bro to underwrite the cost money meant for National Park upkeep was pulled from the National Park Service. It was a rush job and as so often happens with a rush job corners get cut and what looks great at first deteriorates. Sometimes quickly.
Let’s back up a minute to see the history of these statues. You can read about their conception, the 20 plus years it took to finally produce and install them and the first refurbishment here on Wikipedia. It’s an interesting piece, but takes a while so I’ll summarize it. The set of four statues was originally intended to be granite. Eventually it was decided to have them cast in bronze. Bronze of course develops a patina (usually, but not always a shade of green) over time and it was also decided to add a gold covering over the bronze via a process called fire-gilding.
Wikipedia provides a lot more detail including why the statues wound up being cast in Italy, and problems identified at the time by Americans overseeing the work, and problems they didn’t catch would lead to the first refurbishment work in the 1970s. Different options including blasting away the gilding and leaving bronze statues were considered before choosing to continue maintaining a gold colored exterior using not fire guiding but gold electroplating. To do the work the statues had to be removed from their pedestals at which time several problems in the production of the statues had cause significant deterioration from the INSIDE. They were close to collapsing. However, they were shored up and the new outer gold coating was applied. However although it took longer that gold veneer also literally wore thin. Unfortunately Trump happened to be President.
In typical Trumpian fashion a no-bid and overpriced contract to ‘git er done for the 4th’ was awarded and of course Trump bragged about how awesome they looked. All shiny and GOLD. But that ‘pure’ gold is melting as the title picture shows. It’s been less than four months, hardly time for weather/storms and pollution in rain to cause this. And gold of the pureness we are told was used shouldn’t be melting from mere sunlight:
Social media users pointed out, however, that gold has a melting point of 2,000 degrees, suggesting whatever coating was applied to the statues was not genuine gold.
In a photograph posted on Reddit, one of the statues is shown gleaming brightly in the sunlight at the nation’s capital. Upon closer examination, however, streaks can be seen running down the statue’s base.
“Quick reminder: Gold melts at around 2000 degrees,” one individual noted in a post on X. “Washington, DC did not experience that kind of heat wave.
“So… whatever Trump approved for those statues was not gold,” they continued. “Another multimillion-dollar grift/money laundering scheme while Americans suffer.”
Another social media user suggested the coating might be imitation gold leaf – which is 84% copper and 14% zinc. Sometimes called Dutch metal or Composition Leaf, it’s the closest thing to the color of 23k gold,” they added. However one response to that theory said it STILL wouldn’t explain melting in temperatures below 40C because a brass alloy of 14% zinc has a melting point of around 900C. So, a chorus is rising on social media that Trump had fake gold or some other paint/coating applied. Or that a less pure and too thin version of gold was used and that in the rush to complete the work it wasn’t able to properly bond to the bronze.
I look at all this and I’m not sure what to make of it. The new coating hasn’t been exposed to decades of harsh weather and storms. It hasn’t been exposed to enough pollution in rain (thank you Clean Air Act) to cause this. And while direct sunlight can warm things up and a lot (think sand on the beach, non-cloth car seats, metal park benches etc.) nowhere near enough to melt even imitation gold. And real gold? If like me you’re a space geek you know that the helmet of an astronaut on an EVA in the vacuum of space (therefore exposed to direct sunlight/solar radiation) had a pull-down visor with a thin (enough to see through) layer of gold to protect astronaut’s eyes. It doesn’t melt! That leads me to think the coating on the statues is nowhere near 23-24 – and is exceptionally thin and/or improperly applied. Or those who performed the actual gilding applied it to a surface that hadn’t been properly prepared before they went to work.
The bottom line is the work was half-assed, just like you’d expect from Trump. Maybe years ago Putin gave him tips on cost cutting and how to get a rush job for a big public project done well enough to look spiffy – for a month or two. I’m referring to the 2014 Socci Winter Olympics, the most expensive (by far) Games in Olympic history and I include the far larger and more complex Summer Games when I say that. Socci cost more than every Winter Olympics combined, yet even during the games infrastructure was already starting to crumble. If it had been completed at all. Less than a year later it was a proverbial ghost town.
I for one think this statue project might turn into a Reflecting Pool type fiasco. I shudder to think of the damage to the walls of the Oval Office and other places at the WH when Trump has all his “bling” ripped down. The last thing he wants is a new Democratic President having camera crews showing workers removing that crap and proving it’s mostly Home Depot crap painted gold! And what about his ballroom and arch? If he manages to complete either we might not have to bother bulldozing them. They’ll probably collapse all on their own within a couple of years. It would be fun to watch in a twisted sort of way but who would want to wait to get such tacky-assed monstrosities torn down?
Oh well. In the end what’s happening with these ‘shiny gold statues’ should come as no surprise. Trump gold it turns out doesn’t glitter. It MELTS!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
