The two Arts of War statues, "Valor" and "Sacrifice," were covered for restoration and regilding. Both of them at the entrance to the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC. (Photo by G. Edward Johnson/Wikipedia on Sept 7, 2026)
The massive gold statues on Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., show some leakage, according to photos uploaded by local residents.
President Donald Trump spent $5.1 million to have the statues covered in 23.75-karat gold leaf, which was finally finished in August. The Atlantic called them "oversized children's trophies, especially next to the classical and austere Lincoln Memorial," but nothing seemed wrong with them until recently. While the report didn't go so far as to call them indicative of "The Cheesecake Factor," they did note that they looked more like the entrance to the P.F. Chang's rather than the entrance of the U.S. capital.
The Washington, D.C. subreddit, along with several social media posts on X and BlueSky, shows what appears to be streaks running down the base of the statue.
Given Trump's failures with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the Washington renovations have left behind a lot of sludge, criminal charges and miffed residents. It prompted a quick debate on what was really happening.
As the Irish Star noted, gold melts at nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and while Washington can have hot summers, they aren't that brutal. Some social media commentators believe this suggests the coating on the statues wasn't the kind of gold Trump said it was, and other conspiracy theorists have claimed that the gold itself is dripping.
The U.S. version of The Mirrorshared the Reddit image and said it had reached out to the White House and the National Park Service for comment, but hadn't heard back.
The idea that the gold leaf could possibly have been a scam is prompting questions about another possible grift, similar to the failures of the Reflecting Pool.
It prompted quick arguments among those who noted that even at Washington's hottest, no metal could have "melted" off the statues.
"The project also had a no-bid contract at an already eye-watering $2.5 million, which ballooned to a whopping $5 million," The Mirror reported.
"The sculptures will be fully regilded by July 3rd," Trump posted on Truth Social. "The photos below were taken yesterday. The Gilders' Studio has flown in Gilders from around the Country to perform this work!"
The Gilders' Studio is a local Maryland company.
A community note on X claimed the leakage isn't gold or even imitation gold, but a possible "adhesive/sealer failure common in outdoor gilding."
Local runner and community journalist Emily Miller said she checked out the gold statues and found it isn't gold running, as one X account falsely claimed.
While X sleuths fought about the possibilities of various types of metal that could have been used to fake gold leaf, Reddit users cracked their own jokes.
"So this is the 'trickle down' they’ve been promising us…." said one person.
One Canadian cracked, "It's what happens when gold spray paint or gold leaves are applied on bronze statues. Removing the coating would also remove the statues' patina. It's called vandalism." A callback to Trump's scapegoating of an Olympian for his Reflecting Pool flub.
Another noticed the statue's odd expression, which some said looked remarkably like Rudy Giuliani as the brain hair dye melted down his face while giving a press conference at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
"You and me both, statue," the user said.
"And this gold-leaf job hasn't even lasted four seasons yet," another quipped.
"I'm still expecting an algae bloom on these statues any day now," one replied.
"Can we just have healthcare plz," another DC resident asked. "Two weeks," came a reply.
There have been renovations of the statues over the years but those were mostly repairs. In 2018, MTFA Design said on its website, "The granite pedestals are currently covered with severe purple staining that detracts from the intended monolithic appearance of the pedestals and bases. SEM-EDS analysis confirmed that copper ions from the degraded bronze statues are the cause of purple streaking. Extensive cleaning tests evaluated chemical cleaners, poultices, laser cleaning, and microabrasives.
"MTFA performed a condition assessment and cleaning tests to determine the best scope of work for the stabilization of the pedestals. The final report included documentation of the conditions, testing procedures and results, and recommendations. MTFA synthesized all of the information into a treatment plan and drawings for the cleaning and stabilization of the statue bases," it continued.
That was during the previous Trump administration.