Trump says it would be a ‘good idea’ to have his face carved into Mount Rushmore
President Donald Trump suggested that his face should be carved into Mount Rushmore, following reports that his office contacted the governor of South Dakota to discuss the idea.
“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!” Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday.
The president had been responding to a report by the New York Times claiming that one of his aides contacted Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, about having his face added to the sculpture.
According to the NYT report, White House officials contacted the governor’s office in 2019, asking about how the process of adding presidents to the monument worked.
Trump denied the claims, branding the NYT report “fake news”.
“This is Fake News by the failing @nytimes & bad ratings @CNN,” Mr Trump wrote. “Never suggested it,” he added, before going on to suggest that it would be a “good idea” if he was memorialised on the mountain.
Ms Noem has previously claimed that Mr Trump told her that it was his “dream” of being carved into Mount Rushmore, according to the Argus Leader.
During a conversation in 2018, while running for governor, Ms Noem said the president was “totally serious” about being sculpted next to former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
“He said, ‘Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand,’” Ms Noem said. “I shook his hand, and I said, ‘Mr President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.’
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)
“And he goes, ‘Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?’”
“I started laughing,” she said. “He wasn’t laughing, so he was totally serious.”
Remembering the conversation, Ms Noem presented the president with a 4 ft replica of Mount Rushmore with his face on it when he visited the state for 4 July celebrations.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a huge sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture’s design and oversaw the project’s execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum.
The four presidents memorialised in the sculpture were chosen to represent the US’s birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively.
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