Donald Trump is fond of criticizing the nation’s capital— but did he get his facts wrong when he claimed that the scaffolding around one of the city’s iconic buildings will be reassembled after inauguration in 2017?
During an appearance in Dallas on Monday night, Donald Trump recounted his recent visit to the U.S. Capitol, remarking about the intricate scaffolding that surrounds the Capitol Dome as part of an extensive restoration project.
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“They’re going to take all of the scaffolding down, pay millions of dollars to do that, millions. And then after the inauguration, they’re going to put it back up again and pay millions of dollars more,” he said, citing unnamed construction sources.
But the office of the Architect of the Capitol tells NBC News that Trump’s claims are inaccurate.
“The project is still on schedule to be complete before the next presidential inauguration,” said spokesman Justin Kieffer. “There is no plan to put scaffolding back up on the Dome after the inauguration.”
Trump suggested that if elected, he would have the authority to let the scaffolding “stay up” during his inauguration, though Congress authorized the $60 million renovation project and the Architect of the Capitol is supervising the federal contracts.
“If I win, I will let the scaffolding stay up” during the inaugural festivities, he said. “We’ll save millions of dollars.” Trump also insisted crews could simply “work faster” to meet the inaugural deadline. But the project’s two year plan had always factored in the time constraint that the Dome would remain open for business during construction for visitors, Congress and thousands of employees. This article first appeared on NBCNews.com.
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