Trump Urges South Dakota Governor to Add His Face to Mount Rushmore

The Mount Rushmore Conversation

According to the New York Times, President Donald Trump first publicly mentioned the topic during a 2017 rally in Youngstown, Ohio. Trump told the crowd that during a tour of the monument, Governor Kristi Noem pitched the idea of adding his likeness to the granite sculpture alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Trump recalled telling Noem, “Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?” He noted that while he was initially joking, he later concluded that based on his administration’s accomplishments, “maybe I do.”

Governor Noem’s Account

Governor Kristi Noem addressed the interaction in her 2022 memoir, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland. According to The Guardian, Noem wrote that during Trump’s 2017 visit to the Black Hills monument, she greeted him in the Oval Office prior to the trip and presented him with a four-foot-tall replica of Mount Rushmore that already included a carved version of his face.

Noem recalled that Trump chuckled and asked if she was serious about putting his face on the real mountain. According to the memoir, she replied, “Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.” Trump reportedly responded, “Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?” before realizing she was smiling and understanding it was a joke.

Feasibility and Public Response

Adding another face to Mount Rushmore remains structurally and legally unfeasible. According to the National Park Service, the carving of the monument was completed in October 1941 under sculptor Gutzon Borglum, and the remaining rock surrounding the current sculptures is not stable enough to support additional carving.

Despite the physical limitations, Trump has brought up the subject at subsequent public events. During a 2020 speech in Atlanta, Georgia, as reported by Reuters, Trump reiterated that while he never formally requested the addition, he considered the idea defensible given his administration’s policies.

Summary

While the interaction between President Trump and Governor Noem began as a lighthearted exchange involving a scale model, it has since become a frequent talking point in Trump’s public remarks. Federal land managers and historians have consistently emphasized that no further expansion of the Black Hills monument is planned or structurally possible.

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