Former President Donald Trump’s longtime fascination with joining the iconic lineup on Mount Rushmore is once again making headlines — and sparking fresh debate over whether such a change is possible or appropriate.
Trump, who has floated the idea of being added to the South Dakota monument since his first term, received a custom $1,100 bust featuring his face alongside the four presidents from then-Governor Kristi Noem during a 2020 visit to the site. Now, with his return to office, momentum among his supporters has resurfaced — culminating in a House bill introduced by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) that proposes exploring the idea.
However, historians, conservationists, and former National Park Service officials warn that expanding Mount Rushmore is not only unlikely — it’s effectively impossible.
Dan Wenk, former superintendent of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, compared the sculpture to a masterwork: “You wouldn’t add another face to Borglum’s Mount Rushmore just like you wouldn’t add one to da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper,’” he told The New York Times. “But I recognize that these types of ideas are no longer off the table.”
Mount Rushmore was designed and sculpted by Gutzon Borglum between 1927 and 1941 to commemorate the first 150 years of American history. The four selected presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln — were chosen to represent the founding, expansion, development, and preservation of the nation.
The National Park Service has consistently maintained that no further carvings can be added. “The carved portion of Mount Rushmore has been thoroughly evaluated, and there are no viable locations left for additional carvings,” the agency stated.
Aside from artistic and symbolic concerns, practical issues make the addition of a fifth face virtually impossible. The granite mountain’s structure is riddled with fractures and inconsistencies that complicated the original project and forced Borglum to abandon several ambitious features, including presidential torsos, staircases, and a “Hall of Records” hidden behind the monument.
While there is still visible rock surrounding the main sculpture, Borglum believed that only the current site was structurally sound enough to hold the 60-foot-high carvings. Any attempt to alter or expand the existing design would risk damaging the integrity of the monument.
“Fortunately, from my view — and not just for Trump but anybody else — they’re fighting against the reality of the rock,” Wenk said.
Previous presidents such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan have also been proposed as additions in years past. Yet none of those efforts gained serious traction — in part due to the monument’s revered status and the physical limitations of the site itself.
For now, Mount Rushmore’s four faces continue to tower above the Black Hills as a finished piece of American history — with little likelihood of welcoming a fifth.
