Trump Says Scaffolding Coming Down From Regilded Arts of War Sculptures

Trump announces workers are removing scaffolding around the freshly regilded Arts of War statues, part of a restoration of the gold-leafed monuments beside the water.

First Published: July 27, 2026, 4:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump said workers are removing the scaffolding around the newly regilded Arts of War sculptures, marking the near-finish of a restoration of the gold-leafed monuments.

Trump shared four images of the project, showing bright gold surfaces and a construction worker on steel scaffolding beside a river. The photos captured protective coverings still draped over parts of a monumental equestrian figure. Freshly gilded metal caught the daylight against a low urban skyline across the water.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Taking down the scaffolding around the regilded Arts of War sculptures!” on July 27, 2026 at 7:47 PM ET.

This is the latest message released by Trump today. On average, Trump produces roughly 16 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in his recent messaging, with 28 of his 470 posts over the last 30 days focused on the topic “Culture.”

The Arts of War is a pair of gilded bronze equestrian groups, titled “Valor” and “Sacrifice,” that flank the Washington entrance to Arlington Memorial Bridge near the Lincoln Memorial. Sculptor Leo Friedlander designed the works, which Italy cast and the United States installed in 1951 as a gift tied to earlier plans. Their gold surfaces require periodic regilding to restore the leaf worn by weather and time.

The restoration touches monuments seen by millions of visitors who cross between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery each year. Preservation crews and contractors carrying out the gilding stand to gain from the federal work. Taxpayers fund such upkeep, and critics of public spending often question the cost of cosmetic restoration on aging monuments.

The Arts of War sculptures are having scaffolding removed at Washington D.C. on 07/27/2026.

Monument gilding is a slow craft, and the scaffolding stage signals the work is close to done. The bright finish shown in the images matches freshly applied gold leaf, consistent with a restoration and de-scaffolding phase. Water and a tree-lined shoreline appear behind the sculptures, matching the bridge’s riverside setting.

For the average reader, the change is modest but visible. Anyone driving or walking across Arlington Memorial Bridge will see gleaming gold figures instead of a construction site. The removal of scaffolding restores an unobstructed view of one of the capital’s ceremonial gateways.

This has happened before. Federal agencies have restored and regilded national monuments in past decades, and scaffolding routinely surrounds landmarks during such campaigns. Crews removed the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol dome by helicopter and restored it in 1993 before returning it to its perch, according to aoc.gov.

The next steps rest with the crews finishing the de-scaffolding and the federal stewards overseeing the monuments. A date for a formal completion or unveiling has not been announced.

Gilded monuments in Washington have drawn attention before. The Columbus Fountain and other statuary near Union Station underwent conservation over the years, and the National Park Service has managed cyclical restoration of memorials across the National Mall since the agency’s founding in 1916, according to nps.gov. The Washington Monument reopened in 2019 after earthquake repairs that followed the 2011 tremor, a reminder that scaffolding on the capital’s landmarks tends to come down as a marker of renewal rather than decay.