Former President Donald Trump, who's already announced his candidacy to run for the office again next year, reposted an image of his face added next to the other four former presidents on Mount Rushmore.
The mountain in South Dakota has the image of four former U.S. presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt – sculpted into the side of the mountain.
One of the Truth Social members posted a photo of Mount Rushmore with Trump's image superimposed on the mountain as a fifth president. Trump liked it so much that he sent a "Re Truth" and wrote the words, "Sooo beautiful!"
Trump has floated the idea that having his face on Mount Rushmore "sounds like a good idea to me" in a 2020 tweet refuting a CNN report that suggested the White House reached out to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, asking what steps would be needed to add him.
Trump denied the White House suggested it, right before he said it was a "good idea."
"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!" the former president tweeted.
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! https://t.co/EHrA9yUsAw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
In less than a minute after that tweet on August 9, 2020, Trump tweeted a photo of Mount Rushmore with him standing in front of it. It was taken in July 2020 when he attended an Independence Day celebration at the site.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Trump attended the Independence Day celebration during the summer of COVID-19 when much of the country was on lockdown and many issuing mandatory mask mandates. It was a presidential election year as well.
Maureen McGee-Ballinger, who's the Mount Rushmore National Memorial chief of interpretation and education, said adding a fifth president was impossible because "no other rock near the sculpted faces is suitable for additional carving."
"The rock that surrounds the sculpted faces is not suitable for additional carving. When Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore died in 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum closed down the project and stated that no more carvable rock existed," McGee-Ballinger told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
Borglum, the sculptor who designed Mount Rushmore and oversaw its creation from 1927-41, chose the four presidents on the mountain "to represent the first 150 years of the history of the United States — the birth, growth and preservation of our country" – and "not to represent the individuals themselves, McGee-Ballinger said.
"The National Park Service takes the position that death stayed the hand of the artist and the work is complete in its present form," McGee-Ballinger said. "Thus, 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."
Newsweek reached out to the National Park Service for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Scott McDonald is a Newsweek deputy night editor based in Cape Coral, Florida. His focus is assigning and writing stories ... Read more
