In recent weeks, apparently absurd news has gone viral on social media – especially American ones: Donald Trump would like to put his face on Mount Rushmore, next to those of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. Let’s clarify it right away: it is a hoax, or rather an April Fool’s joke. If the matter had ended here, however, we wouldn’t be talking about it. In fact, the current president of the USA is not new to this idea and over the years he has repeatedly demonstrated his interest in being carved on that mountain. But could he really do it? What does the law say about this?
Trump and Mount Rushmore
Trump’s first public statement regarding his presence on Mount Rushmore dates back to 2020. That year the New York Times wrote that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem had informally received a request of this type from the president. The request was politely declined at the time.
However, Trump immediately denied having ever made a similar request through a post on
Let’s jump forward in time, to 2025. As also confirmed by Snopesin that year the deputy Anna Paulina Luna presented a bill «aimed at placing the sculpture of the figure of President Donald J. Trump on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial». This never left the commission but it is interesting to note how, five years later, there has been a new openness to the idea, this time even more formal.
But could something like this ever happen?
What the law says
According to what was declared to Northeastern Global News by Jeremy Paul, law professor and former dean of the School of Law at Northeastern University, the White House would first have to seek congressional approval – which is extremely complicated, both due to the historical value of the work and the technical difficulties in its implementation. But even assuming, absurdly, that we managed to get the green light, the problems would not have ended there. In fact, the presidency could be forced to face numerous lawsuits against environmental groups and, above all, against tribal nations.
In fact, we must keep in mind that Mount Rushmore is historically a very hot area for indigenous resistance. In 1868 with the Treaty of Fort Laramie those lands were recognized to the Sioux but, a few years later with the discovery of large quantities of gold in the area, the area was occupied, giving rise to strong opposition. Precisely for this reason, in 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Sioux Nation, establishing that the government had illegally appropriated the Black Hills. This means that permits to carry out further interventions in that area – especially of this scale – would be incredibly complicated to obtain.
So, in light of all this, we can say that no, Trump is nowhere near having his face carved into the mountain – and it’s very likely he never will be.
