President Donald Trump announced Friday that Washington’s West Potomac Park will be the site for his proposed National Garden of American Heroes. The announcement comes as the administration ramps up a series of renovations across the capital ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
As the garden project develops, the administration has added features that deviate from original plans, raising questions on whether the project will need fresh congressional approval before moving forward.
Trump selected West Potomac Park for the garden, describing the site on Truth Social as “a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate” that he intends to transform into a “World Class Masterpiece.”
It is one of several projects in Trump’s effort to make Washington what he called the “Safest and Most Beautiful Capital in the World.”
The garden is expected to feature 250 life-size statues. Per the president’s request, the figures will be made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass. While the final list of honorees is still being finalized, current names include:
- Historical figures: Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross and Martin Luther King Jr.
- Jurists and authors: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Emily Dickinson and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- Athletes and artists: Muhammad Ali, Kobe Bryant, Whitney Houston and Johnny Cash.
- Scientists and explorers: Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart and Thomas Edison.
“The people of America (and the World!) will come here to learn and be inspired by the ‘Greats,’” Trump wrote Friday. “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!”
The expanding scope of the project has led to speculation that costs will exceed initial estimates. Latest plans include reflecting pools, dining facilities and an amphitheater alongside the statues.
The New York Times reported that the statues alone could exceed the original $40 million budget approved by Congress.
“President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes will be built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism,” said Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman. “President Trump continues to beautify and honor our nation’s capital during America’s historic semiquincentennial celebration.”
The project, initially proposed during Trump’s first term, was slated for completion in his second term by July 4 of this year. Officials now aim to have a few dozen statues ready to unveil by that time, The New York Times reported.
A final plan has not yet been submitted to any oversight board, according to The New York Times.
Washington renovations
Other projects proposed or underway for the semiquincentennial include renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a White House ballroom extension and the addition of a Triumphal Arch.
Trump has also renamed the Department of Defense as the Department of War, proposed purchasing and renovations of golf courses and ordered the repainting of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Additionally, he has added his name to both the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. Institute.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum provided an update Thursday on the administration’s golf course projects, sharing an aerial mockup of the East Potomac Golf Links renovation.