\n President Donald Trump announced Friday that his \u201cNational Garden of American Heroes\u201d will be built in West Potomac Park, advancing a yearslong push for a sweeping sculpture park honoring hundreds of prominent Americans ahead of the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary in 2026.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to announce the site of the NATIONAL GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES,\u201d Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social as he traveled back from a high-stakes visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis magnificent exhibition of statues will be located in West Potomac Park, which we are transforming into one of the World\u2019s most beautiful public spaces. Right now, it is a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate along our Mighty Potomac River,\u201d Trump added.\n <\/p>\n
\n It was one of multiple social media posts the president sent related to architecture while traveling back from China.\n <\/p>\n
\n The garden project has been a priority for the president since the final year of his first term in office. But despite renewed momentum during his second term, the ambitious plan faces questions over timing, cost and support.\n <\/p>\n
\n Sources last month told CNN it was unlikely the sculpture garden would be completed<\/a> in time for the country\u2019s July 2026 semiquincentennial celebration.\n <\/p>\n \n The planned garden would feature 250 life-size statues honoring a wide range of American figures, including Kobe Bryant, Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, Muhammad Ali, Christopher Columbus and Sally Ride, among others. Trump said the statues would honor \u201cFounding Fathers, Military Warriors, Religious Leaders, Civil Rights Champions, World Class Athletes, Artists, Entertainers, and MORE.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe people of America (and the World!) will come here to learn and be inspired by the \u201cGreats\u201d. 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!\u201d Trump wrote on Friday.\n <\/p>\n \n A source familiar with the project says it is expected to come before the Commission of Fine Arts, which is filled with Trump allies, in June. It is the first time the project will be presented before one of the two commissions that need to formally approve it.\n <\/p>\n \n Trump first presented the idea during a political speech at the base of Mount Rushmore during his first term six years ago. He then issued an executive order officially ordering the project shortly before leaving office.\n <\/p>\n \n At the time, Trump described the project as a garden \u201cto reflect the awesome splendor of our country\u2019s timeless exceptionalism.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Trump\u2019s executive order, only for Trump to reinstate executive orders related to the sculpture garden in January 2025.\n <\/p>\n \n The effort to build a new sculpture garden comes as the president has worked to make a lasting impact on the nation\u2019s capital with architectural projects including plans for a White House ballroom<\/a> and a 250-foot arch<\/a> near Arlington Cemetery.\n <\/p>\n \n On Friday, Trump also used his trip to China to spotlight his long-discussed ballroom project, posting on social media that the United States should have a grand venue comparable to the one he visited in Beijing.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump announced Friday that his \u201cNational Garden of American Heroes\u201d will be built in West Potomac…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-429071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}