The effort to add President Donald Trump to Mount Rushmore gained new momentum Thursday when Republican Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN) announced he has formally petitioned the government to make it happen—just in time for the 4th of July.
Ogles revealed that he sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, urging him to consider carving the president’s likeness alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. This would mark the first addition to the iconic American monument since its completion in 1941.
“Given the scale and scope of President Trump’s recent achievements—especially the impending enactment of the Big Beautiful Bill, the historic act that will ignite America’s Golden Age—it is essential that we immortalize President Trump’s likeness on Mount Rushmore,” Ogles writes. “Like Washington, Trump did not seek his position for glory but out of love for his country, championing American independence and reshaping the presidency with dynamism, clarity, and purpose.
“Like Jefferson, he expanded America’s horizons by pursuing new frontiers and breaking away from deep state tyrants,” the letter continued. “Like Teddy Roosevelt, Trump took on entrenched interests, reinvigorated American industry, and avenged the working class against bureaucratic bloat and corporate corruption.” He added: “The legacy of Mount Rushmore cannot remain frozen in stone; it must evolve to reflect the full arc of American history, including its most recent and transformative chapter.”
Construction on Mount Rushmore, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, began in 1927, with the U.S. government covering the majority of the $1 million project cost. Adjusted for inflation, a similar undertaking today would likely exceed $20 million, if not significantly more.
Ogles urged Burgum not to let “logical and preservation concerns” overshadow the significance of recognizing Trump’s accomplishments for future generations. “While meeting the logistical challenges may require engagement with state and/or tribal officials, the national benefit of promptly recognizing President Trump’s accomplishments in restoring American greatness makes doing so a priority, and the benefits of elevating the dignity and relevance of the site, thus increasing both its grandeur and its visitor traffic, will accrue to South Dakota, the Lakota Sioux, and the broader,” he added.
The site draws two million visitors each year and costs approximately $2.1 million annually to maintain, according to the Secretary of the Interior’s website. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum originally envisioned the monument as a “Shrine to Democracy,” but he passed away months before its completion. His son, Lincoln Borglum, took over as project lead to see it through, and Mount Rushmore was not added to the National Register of Historic Places until 1966.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump held his 4th of July celebration at Mount Rushmore and hinted at the possibility of his face being carved onto the monument someday, according to then-Governor Kristi Noem.
“He said, ‘Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand,’” Noem told the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader about a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. “I shook his hand, and I said, ‘Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.’ And he goes, ‘Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?’. I started laughing. He wasn’t laughing, so he was totally serious.”
