Donald Trump says it’s a ‘good idea’ to put his face on Mount Rushmore

Donald Trump says it’s a ‘good idea’ to add his face to Mount Rushmore after White House officials reportedly discussed the plan with the governor of South Dakota.

The president initially denied a report in The New York Times claiming White House spoke with governor Kristi Noem about fulfilling Trump’s ‘dream’ to be added to the monument.

However, after dismissing the report as fake news, he tweeted it would be a ‘good idea’ because of ‘all the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years’ of his presidency.

Trump recently visited Mount Rushmore where he delivered a speech decrying ‘new far-left fascism’ during July 4 celebrations.

Noem is said to have given Trump a four-foot replica of the monument featuring his face ahead of the rally.

It appears, though, the president may have wanted more than just a replica, after claims White House aides made a secret inquiry about carving his face into the mountain last year.

According to a 2018 interview with Noem, the two spoke about the idea in the Oval Office shortly after Trump’s inauguration.

Noem initially thought the plan was a joke.

‘I started laughing,’ she told South Dakota’s Argus Leader. ‘He wasn’t laughing, so he was totally serious.’

She added: ‘He said, “Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand”, and so I shook his hand, and I said, “Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.” And he goes, “Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?”‘

Trump also toyed with the idea of adding his face to the monument in 2017, telling a campaign rally it was his ‘dream’.

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) August 10, 2020

The White House did not deny they approached Noem about the idea, instead noting Mount Rushmore is a monument controlled by the federal government, not state.

Mount Rushmore was built over 14 years between 1927 to 1941.

It features the 60-foot heads of the ‘founding fathers’ – Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

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