President Donald Trump is famous for placing his name on everything from skyscrapers to golf resorts. Now, some of his supporters want to see his face added to one of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks: Mount Rushmore.
Just days into Trump’s second term, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced a bill to make that happen. But while the legislation has stalled in Congress, the bigger obstacle is the mountain itself. Experts say there simply isn’t enough solid rock to carve another face alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
“It comes down to the geology, the engineering,” said Paul Nelson, a retired engineer who once oversaw Mount Rushmore’s rock monitoring system. “It just can’t be done.”
Lead sculptor Gutzon Borglum knew the monument’s limits when he and his son worked on it between 1927 and 1941. As early as 1936, Borglum wrote that the “stone limitations are so serious” that adding a fifth figure would be impossible.
That hasn’t stopped some from keeping the idea alive. “Well, they certainly have room for it there,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in an interview with Lara Trump on Fox News when asked if her father-in-law could be added. The National Park Service has declined to comment.
Trump himself addressed the notion back in August 2020, dismissing reports that White House aides had contacted South Dakota officials about the process. Still, he suggested he wouldn’t mind the honor. “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!” he posted on Twitter.
Other presidents and historical figures have also been floated for the monument. After Ronald Reagan’s death in 2004, some proposed carving his image. Even before the sculpture was finished, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt suggested adding suffragist Susan B. Anthony.
But for former Mount Rushmore superintendent Dan Wenk, the idea doesn’t hold up. “It’s a wonderful thing to speculate about, who could or should be on Mount Rushmore, but it can’t be done,” he said. “Would you add another figure to da Vinci’s The Last Supper? You don’t change great art.”
While it may look like there’s space next to Lincoln or Washington, experts explain the rock is fractured and too soft for carving. In fact, Jefferson’s face originally began on Washington’s left side but had to be moved after poor rock quality was discovered. Attempting another carving could risk damaging the existing monument.
Tourists who visit the site also have mixed feelings. “I think history is going to show that he’s in the same pantheon,” said Robert Thomas, a visitor from Missouri. But another tourist, Susan Davis, dismissed the notion: “Tell him to get his own mountain, carve his own image on it.”
Wenk put it more bluntly: “It doesn’t matter how worthy someone is — if the rock is not there, you can’t carve them.”
