More details are emerging about the National Garden of American Heroes that President Donald Trump is planning to open this summer in honor of the United States’s semiquincentennial.
Trump appears to have settled on the Potomac River, specifically West Potomac Park in Washington, south of the National Mall, as the location for the sculpture garden, according to the Washington Post.
“That’s going to be most likely right on the Potomac River … You’ll see this, an area that is touching the golf course,” Trump said during a recent interview with the New York Times, appearing to reference the East Potomac Park golf course. “That hasn’t been a final decision, but it’s getting close.”
Creating a sculpture garden celebrating notable figures in U.S. history has been on Trump’s radar for years. However, his vision has only begun to take significant shape in recent months.
Congress appropriated $40 million to craft the area in 2025. And last month, the Trump administration terminated the lease agreement governing Washington’s three public golf courses, including the East Potomac Park golf course, likely freeing the president to use part of that land for the garden.
Trump would still likely need final approval from Congress to use the land, as the West Potomac Park falls within the Commemorative Works Act’s reserve area.
The garden is still targeted to open in time for Washington’s grand celebrations marking the country’s 250th birthday.
“The National Garden of American Heroes is set to open in July 2026 in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” says the website for the National Endowment for the Arts, the federal agency that would be involved in overseeing the monuments’ construction.
TRUMP ADVISES THAT ANYONE BURNING AMERICAN FLAG WILL BE IMPRISONED FOR A YEAR
The agency has been tasked with recruiting sculptors nationwide to create dozens of figures. Sculptures of scientists, artists, athletes, explorers, and other notable figures credited with shaping American history and culture who have been selected to be placed in the garden include Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, Amelia Earhart, Walt Disney, Norman Rockwell, Albert Einstein, Rosa Parks, Neil Armstrong, Babe Ruth, Frank Capra, Elvis Presley, Jackie Robinson, and Aretha Franklin.
“Each individual has been chosen for embodying the American spirit of daring and defiance, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love. Astounding the world by the sheer power of their example, each one of them has contributed indispensably to America’s noble history, the best chapters of which are still to come,” Trump wrote in his original 2021 executive order seeking to build the new garden.
Discount Applied Successfully!
Your savings have been added to the cart.