The White House reached out to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem last year about the process of adding more presidents to Mount Rushmore.
What We Know:
- Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. The monument includes the faces of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The man who carved Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, chose the presidents because “they all played important roles in American history”.
- According to the New York Times, last year a White House aide reached out to Governor Noem inquiring “What’s the process to add additional presidents to Mount Rushmore?” Following this conversation, last month Donald Trump visited South Dakota for 4th of July celebrations where he was greeted by Governor Noem with a Mount Rushmore replica that included Trump in hand.
- Donald Trump has been fascinated with having his face added to Mount Rushmore for a long time. In 2017, he made a remark about being added to the monument at an Ohio rally.
- Last night President Trump denied all claims on Twitter saying, “This is Fake News by the failing @nytimes & bad ratings @CNN. Never suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!”
- However, Maureen McGee-Ballinger, Mount Rushmore National Monument chief of interpretation and education, quickly ended the debate stating “…to maintain both the integrity of the structure and the artist’s concept, there is no procedure for adding another likeness, the sculpture is complete”.
Though President Trump would like to deny his desire to be added to Mount Rushmore, the White House confirmed that the inquiry about adding another president to the monument happened. Although it appears that the monument is closed for business, it is interesting to theorize if Gutzon Borglum would consider Trump a president that played an important role in American history.
