Trump Speaks at Mount Rushmore, Where He Wants to See His Face
Geotechnical surveys have ruled out adding to the monument that is hosting the president on the eve of America’s 250th
- President Trump spoke at Mount Rushmore, a memorial he has mused about joining despite structural impossibility.
- Geotechnical surveys found the granite’s structural integrity “entirely spent,” risking catastrophic rockfalls if sculpted.
- In his second term, Trump has sought to apply his personal brand to public infrastructure and federal real estate.
President Trump spoke in front of Mount Rushmore on Friday ahead of the country’s Independence Day celebration, at the memorial honoring four past presidents that he has mused about joining.
The monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota has long caught Trump’s attention, even if adding his face to it is structurally impossible. This term, Trump has led an unprecedented effort to apply his personal brand to the nation, in public infrastructure, government programs and federal real estate.
Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota governor and Trump’s former homeland security secretary, once gave him a 4-foot-tall replica of the memorial, with his face joining the four presidents.
“Sounds like a good idea to me!” Trump said about the prospect in his first term on social media.
The monument is hosting fireworks for Trump’s visit, after a several-year hiatus.
The festivities come in the midst of a heat wave so severe that the marquee fair on the National Mall in Washington was closed for several hours on Friday afternoon.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is traveling with Trump to the South Dakota monument, has discussed Trump’s inclusion on it. He told Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump on her Fox News show last year that there was room for the president. Asked recently in an interview with The Wall Street Journal about Trump supporters’ call for the 47th president’s face to be carved into the monument, Burgum didn’t rule it out.
“I’m sure that there are going to be a lot of people that are going to say we need to build something recognizing President Trump,” Burgum said. “But I think right now what he’s focused on is…fixing everything we have.”
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida filed legislation in January 2025 that would direct the interior secretary to carve Trump on Mount Rushmore because of “his transformative impact on America and the historical significance of his leadership.”
Geotechnical surveys commissioned by the National Park Service concluded that the structural integrity of the granite in the region is fragile. Technicians monitoring the monument’s 140 microfractures have noted that further high-impact sculpting would risk catastrophic rockfalls, potentially destabilizing the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln.
The presidents were chosen by the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who initially had grander plans for the memorial. The funds for the sculpture were appropriated by Congress, and lawmakers declared it complete in 1941 shortly after his death.
The monument features the first U.S. president, George Washington; Thomas Jefferson, the third president; Lincoln, who led the country through the Civil War; and Theodore Roosevelt, who spent time in the Dakotas and was chosen to represent development of the U.S.
A spokeswoman for the White House didn’t respond directly to questions about Trump’s efforts to put himself on Mount Rushmore. “President Trump will be remembered as one of the greatest and most consequential presidents in history,” said the spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers.
In Trump’s second term, he has sought to put his name and imprint on many things, from commemorative U.S. passports to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Palm Beach International Airport will officially become Donald J. Trump International Airport this month.
In the tax bill passed by Congress last year, savings accounts for children in the U.S. were named Trump Accounts. Trump’s image hangs on banners at many federal buildings in Washington, D.C., a departure from past administrations.