President Donald Trump announced the proposed site for the future “National Garden of American Heroes” in Washington, D.C. The president chose West Potomac Park as the site for the upcoming sculpture park honoring great Americans. Trump revealed the location in a Truth Social post aboard Air Force One as he was traveling back to the United States from China.
“I am proud to announce the site of the NATIONAL GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES,” Trump said in his post. “This magnificent exhibition of statues will be located in West Potomac Park, which we are transforming into one of the World’s most beautiful public spaces.”
Trump has teased the West Potomac as a location for the park for months, as it was his preferred location all along. In his post, he lauded the new national garden as a future “world-class masterpiece” filled with monuments to great Americans throughout history. He said the creation of the park is part of his vision to make Washington, D.C., the “safest and most beautiful capital in the world.”
“When finished, West Potomac Park will be a World Class Masterpiece with elegant Landscaping, and adorned with Beautiful Statues, and be yet another one of my great projects to make Washington, D.C., the Safest and Most Beautiful Capital in the World,” Trump said. “The National Garden of American Heroes will feature the MOST BEAUTIFUL collection of statues of AMERICAN HEROES, featuring our Illustrious Founding Fathers, Military Warriors, Religious Leaders, Civil Rights Champions, World Class Athletes, Artists, Entertainers, and MORE.”
The idea for the National Garden of American Heroes was initially conceived during Trump’s first term in 2020, in the middle of the nationwide destructive George Floyd riots in which protesters destroyed many statues throughout the country. Trump announced the idea of the garden during a speech he gave at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on July 4, 2020.
“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children,” he said in his speech then. “Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities.”
“So today, under the authority vested in me as President of the United States — I am announcing the creation of a new monument to the giants of our past,” Trump said in 2020. “I am signing an executive order to establish the National Garden of American Heroes, a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.”
Trump later issued an executive order on Jan. 18, 2021, announcing his intention to build the park, days before his first term ended. The Biden administration did not take up the project.
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It is unclear what Americans will have in the new park, as details have not been finalized. However, in Trump’s executive order from 2021, the contents of it named many American historical and cultural icons, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, Louis Armstrong, Neil Armstrong, Crispus Attucks, Daniel Boone, Herb Brooks, Kobe Bryant, Walt Disney, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Aretha Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Jackie Robinson, George Washington, among many others.
“The people of America (and the World!) will come here to learn and be inspired by the ‘Greats,’ Trump said in his post. “The National Garden of American Heroes is one more project we are undertaking to honor the 250th Birthday of the Greatest Nation on Earth, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!”