Trump says a site has been selected for national heroes garden monument – WUSA9
WASHINGTON — One of President Donald Trump’s long-pushed-for projects appears to be moving forward in the District. It comes as the president continues to pull out all the stops to celebrate America’s 250th birthday with events including an INDYCAR road race on the National Mall and a UFC fight at the White House.
On Friday, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to announce the site for the National Garden of American Heroes would be West Potomac Park. In a post timestamped just before 5 a.m., the president called West Potomac Park a “barren field of prime waterfront real estate.”
“When finished, West Potomac Park will be a World Class Masterpiece with elegant Landscaping, and adorned with Beautiful Statues, and be yet another one of my great projects to make Washington, D.C., the Safest and Most Beautiful Capital in the World,” Trump wrote.
Trump first announced plans for what he said would be “a new monument to the giants of our past” in a 2020 speech celebrating Independence Day at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. It was to have featured sculptures of dozens of American historical figures, including presidents, athletes and pop culture icons.
Trump himself curated the list of who was to be included — Davy Crockett, Billy Graham, Whitney Houston, Harriet Tubman and Antonin Scalia, among others.
No site was selected, however, and the garden was never funded by Congress. President Joe Biden abolished the task force after his election.
Trump’s announcement had come at a time of conservative backlash against efforts to take down statues dedicated to Confederate leaders and slave owners in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and subsequent protests.
Trump brought back the statue garden plan in 2025, among other plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.
In documents posted online last year, the National Endowment for the Humanities outlined what the statues should look like, saying all statues must be life-sized and made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass.
The National Garden of American Heroes Foundation, a nonprofit organization established this year, released rendering of what the garden monument would look like in a pledge agreement released earlier this month.
“Through bold design, thoughtful restoration, and strategic partnerships, the Foundation advances projects that elevate the National Mall as both a civic gathering place and a national symbol. It’s work focuses on enhancing public spaces, creating new experiences, and celebrating the legacy of America’s founders and heroes in ways that are inspiring, timeless and befitting the Nation’s capital,” the foundation said.
Meanwhile, some are pushing back against the proposed location. In a January post, founder and chair of the National Mall Coalition, Dr. Judy Scott Feldman, pointed to serious unresolved environmental risks and frequent flooding.
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Instead, Feldman suggests an alternative to West Potomac Park.
“If the goal is to celebrate American history in a prominent and meaningful way, there is a better answer, and it’s hiding in plain sight: along the great east-west axis between the Mall monuments and Smithsonian museums, where school buses and tour buses already discharge millions of visitors every year,” Feldman wrote. “Small-scale statues lining the Mall’s pathways, from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, could enliven the two-mile walk with stories from every corner of the American experience.”
While the plan appears to be moving forward, there is no word yet about how much the project would cost, or a timeline for its completion.
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