Sculptor of Trump’s giant statue said pitching $60,000 gold add-ons to White House was like giving ‘water to a man dying of thirst’

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsSculptor of Trump’s giant statue said pitching $60,000 gold add-ons to White House was like giving ‘water to a man dying of thirst’The president reportedly said the 15-foot statue, originally made in bronze, looked ‘fantastic’ in gold leafing Ariana Baio Friday 01 May 2026 15:39 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2968910","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-gold-state-sculptor-white-house-b2968910.html","title":"Sculptor of Trump’s giant statue said pitching $60k gold add-ons was easy"}}CloseDonald Trump unveils giant gold statue of himself in presidential library plansSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","re...