Donald Trump’s plans for an elaborate sculpture garden to celebrate America’s heroes on the nation’s 250th anniversary look set to flop.
The president announced his intention to build a “National Garden of American Heroes” in 2021, canceling millions of dollars’ worth of arts grants once he returned to office last year in order to fund the project. He also appropriated $40 million in his ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ for the Department of the Interior to establish and maintain the garden.
His vision involved a “vast outdoor park” that would boast hundreds of life-size sculptures of “the greatest Americans to ever live,” including former presidents as well as stars like Elvis Presley and Kobe Bryant.
Experts sounded the alarm in June that the project was “completely unworkable,” particularly considering the fact the garden’s planned opening was designed to coincide with the celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July.
With the June 1 delivery deadline for sculptures looming, CNN is reporting that it is unlikely that even one statue will be ready in time, citing sources familiar with the planning.
Workshops and sculptors who applied to work on the sculptures have not heard from the Trump administration, CNN reports.
In addition, plans for the garden have not been submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts or the National Capital Planning Commission.
“It has not been formally reviewed,” a source familiar with planning efforts told CNN. “Based on my experience in prior approvals in the District, I don’t see how this could be in place in time by July.”
CNN notes that some progress has been made, including selecting West Potomac Park as the site for the garden. In addition, D.C.-based architect Michael Franck has been hired to advise the project.
West Potomac Park, adjacent to the National Mall, is already home to several landmarks, including the Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. It is also a popular viewing spot during cherry blossom season.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment. The White House declined to comment when contacted by CNN.
One source told CNN that they feared the sculpture garden would be “rammed through without approval” by Congress or either commission, much like the president’s $400 million ballroom renovation, which saw him demolish the East Wing of the White House without obtaining prior permission.
The extravagant garden is not the first outdoor space the president has sought to redesign, drastically altering the White House’s own historic Rose Garden last summer by bulldozing it and replacing it with a concrete patio.
The end result left the space looking more like Trump’s own Mar-a-Lago, with the president claiming that he initiated the renovation with his female guests in mind.
“What was happening is, that’s supposed to have events. Every event you have, it’s soaking wet,” he told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, referring to the 7,500 square foot area near the South Lawn. “It’s soaking wet... and the women with the high heels, it’s just too much.”
While the fate of the National Garden of American Heroes is unclear, at least two sculptures have found a home in Trump’s renovated Rose Garden.
As the president was initiating war with Iran, statues of Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton were erected, loaned to the White House by “generous private American patriots.”
After returning to the White House the day after his attacks on Iran, the president declined to answer questions about his strikes or the U.S. service members who died as a result of the military operation.
“He did not answer those questions,” CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes told anchor Kaitlan Collins. “He did have some positive praise, and I don’t want to quote exactly, because I don’t have it written down what he said, but he praised the statue in the garden, and then he left.”
