The Don of Dung: The Trump Administration in One Painting

The administration promised to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. Instead, taxpayers have funded costly vanity projects, including a $14.7 million no bid contract for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that quickly failed and a $5 million project to cover four bronze horse statues in 23.75 karat gold leaf. Rather than acknowledge the Reflecting Pool’s defective construction, President Trump repeatedly insisted it was vandalism, even after his own Justice Department concluded the damage resulted from a flawed installation and moved to dismiss the criminal case. He continues to reject his own administration’s findings and promote a false narrative. (Sounds like the 2020 election, doesn’t it?) His repeated rejection of documented facts, combined with many of his recent public statements and social media posts, raises serious questions about his judgment and fitness for office. When this administration ends, one artwork may outlast every gilded monument: Wendy Chartrand’s The Don of Dung, a portrait of Donald Trump painted entirely with horse manure. It may become the defining symbol of an administration that chose spectacle over stewardship. Many Americans feel Republicans have thrown little more than horse manure at the American people while claiming fiscal responsibility. Congress must stop enabling this behavior. Protect taxpayer dollars, conduct real oversight, and put the interests of the American people ahead of one man’s ego. If President Trump is no longer capable of faithfully executing the duties of his office, Congress has a constitutional responsibility to act.