Taxpayers hit with $527,000 bill for slave-owner statue in DC

• The Trump administration reportedly spent over $527,000 installing a statue of slave-owning Founding Father Caesar Rodney in Washington, D.C.'s Freedom Plaza.
• The statue was moved from Delaware in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement, as Rodney owned approximately 200 enslaved people.
• The installation was fast-tracked via an expedited, no-bid contract, which nearly doubled the original price estimates and was criticized as an unethical use of taxpayer funds.
• This project is part of a pattern of the administration awarding fast-track, no-bid contracts for various beautification projects in Washington, including repairs in Lafayette Park and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
• The administration has been accused of financial irregularities and has made a point of restoring tributes to American historical figures who owned slaves, aligning with its 'anti-woke' ideology.

IN FULL

Trump resurrected the statue of a slave owner - and it cost the taxpayer more than $500,000, report says