A large banner featuring U.S. President Donald Trump hangs on the Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C., U.S., in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A Freedom of Information Act request has revealed that Stalinesque banners hung on the Department of Justice building bearing the face of President Donald Trump were justified using questionable rationale.
“I got records under FOIA showing Trump banners hung at Justice were part of a ‘RFK Beautification Project,’” posted journalist Kevin Bogardus on Friday. What’s more: “Total price? Almost $1 million. But precise costs for the banners were redacted.”
Bogardus elaborated in an article for Politico, writing, “Records obtained by POLITICO share more details on how Trump’s visage ended up adorning the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, otherwise known as Main Justice. The department signed a contract in January for a ‘RFK Beautification Project’ to clean the building’s exterior walls, upgrade the facade lighting system and install ‘Celebratory Banners.’”
The project's total ended up being $892,192.07,with another $54,768 added under a “supplemental agreement” just this week. Notably, writes Bogardus, “In the released records, officials blacked out the line-item costs for creating and hanging the massive banners.”
According to Bogardus, “Several federal agencies have also hung banners of Trump at their headquarters buildings, some of them ostensibly in celebration of the United States’ 250th birthday earlier this month. The decorations also fit with Trump’s penchant for self-promotion, placing his name on Washington landmarks, and have attracted congressional scrutiny.”
When the banners were initially hung in September, House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared, "This is not only a waste of taxpayer dollars. It's also an authoritarian tactic. Dictators from Stalin to Saddam plastered their images on government buildings to demonstrate power. Now, the Trump Administration is doing the same in Washington."
Trump’s second term has been characterized by his vanity projects. These have included a wide range of construction and renovation projects in Washington, D.C., such as the White House ballroom, a 250-foot-tall arch, horse statues coated with gold, and his disastrous attempt to have the Reflecting Pool painted. He’s also been obsessed with getting his face and signature put on currency and passports.
These vanity projects have not come cheap to the taxpayer. Funding has come from a range of sources, but roughly $1 billion (as of June) has been diverted from the National Parks Service. According to one Parks Service employee who spoke with a reporter on the condition of strict anonymity, many parks have had as much as 70 percent of their funds pulled. As the Parks employee explained, “It means that signage and exhibits won’t be improved, youth programs can’t be offered, that a trail is not improved.”