Here we go again. On Friday, January 24, 2025, Corey Lewandowski appeared on the Benny Johnson Show, stating, “Donald Trump’s face should be on Mount Rushmore. We’ve got the votes. Trump’s gonna sign it. Let’s get it done to memorialize what this man’s achieved for this country.” He added, “Some really smart congressman should go and say, ‘Donald Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore.’” (Source: Daily Mail). In response, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) announced plans to file legislation to add Trump’s face to the iconic memorial.
During his first term, Trump openly flirted with this idea of immortality, spurred by his penchant for grandiosity. On July 26, 2017, at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, he quipped, “I’d ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore. But here’s the problem: if I did it joking, totally having fun, the fake news media will say, ‘He believes he should be on Mount Rushmore.’ So, I won’t say it. Okay.” (Source: YouTube).
That was classic Trumpian double-speak for, “I really want to be on Mount Rushmore.” Former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem revealed in an interview about her December 27, 2018, Oval Office meeting with Trump that he told her, “Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?” (Source: The Guardian). In 2019, a White House aide even reached out to the South Dakota Governor’s office to inquire about the process of adding another president to Mount Rushmore.
During a July 4, 2020, speech at Mount Rushmore, Trump said, “There could be no better place to celebrate America’s independence than beneath this magnificent, incredible, majestic mountain and monument to the greatest Americans who have ever lived. Today, we pay tribute to the exceptional lives and extraordinary legacies of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. I am here as your President to proclaim before the country and before the world: This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced, their legacy will never, ever be destroyed, their achievements will never be forgotten, and Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom.” (Source: Trump White House Archives).
In a private meeting during the same visit, Governor Noem presented Trump with a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore that included a fifth likeness: Trump’s. Adding Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore would further desecrate a monument already built on stolen Lakota land.
In the 2021 C-SPAN presidential ranking, the most recent, the Mt. Rushmore Presidents and Trump were ranked as follows: #1 Lincoln, #2 Washington, #4 Theodore Roosevelt, and #7 Thomas Jefferson. Forty-four Presidents were ranked, and Trump was ranked 41st. In his second term, Trump may likely become the most consequential President in history because the incredible speed by which he is destroying America is unprecedented, but destroying America does not get you on Mt. Rushmore.
Mount Rushmore, which is the second tallest mountain in the Black Hills at 5,725 feet tall, represents another absurd historical naming convention. Charles E. Rushmore, a New York lawyer, visited the Black Hills (aka Paha Sapa in Lakota) of South Dakota in 1885. He asked a local prospector the name of the mountain. The prospector, clearly a very funny man, said “Rushmore,” and it became popular. However, this mountain already had a name: “Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe” in Lakota, which translates as “The Six Grandfathers,” a name that reaches back centuries.
The mountain’s original name reflected profound spiritual significance, including:
1 Creation and Spiritual Guardianship – The Six Grandfathers represent sacred forces of creation, intermediaries with Wakan Tanka (the Creator).
2 Cosmological Significance – They symbolize the six sacred directions: north, south, east, west, above, and below.
3 Harmony and Balance – They ensure harmony between the human and natural worlds.
4 Protection and Guidance – They provide spiritual direction and guidance.
5 Sacred Land Connection – The Black Hills serve as the spiritual heart of the Lakota people.
6 Ceremonial Role – Integral to rituals such as the Sun Dance and vision quests.
7 Guardians of Life and Death – They maintain the spiritual balance of life’s cycle.
To the Lakota, the land is alive and sacred, while the Western worldview treats land as property—a resource to dominate.
Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor behind Mount Rushmore, began the project on October 4, 1927. Borglum, who held White Supremacist views and briefly associated with the Ku Klux Klan during his work on the Confederate-themed Stone Mountain in Georgia, imposed a vision of American exceptionalism onto a sacred site. The Lakota were powerless to prevent this desecration.
The postscript contains a brief historical overview of the treatment of the Great Sioux Nation, which consists of the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota tribes.
Adding Trump to Mt. Rushmore would desecrate the Six Grandfathers and America. In 1989, the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted an engineering study of Mount Rushmore. Their findings confirmed that the remaining granite in the area is not stable enough to withstand further sculpting. Fortunately, this means no additional figures, including Trump, can be added. The current sculptures require $250,000 annually for maintenance.
In time, the Six Grandfathers—who embody patience—will prevail. Geological erosion will eventually erase the presidents’ faces in approximately 2.4 million years. Until then, the Black Hills remain a testament to both desecration and resilience.
PS: The following highlights how the Sioux, generally, and the Lakota, specifically, have been treated by the U.S. government.
1861, Dakota Territory was established: Tensions rose between the Dakota Sioux and settlers in Minnesota.
1862, Dakota War of 1862: The conflict between the Dakota Sioux and U.S. settlers erupted in Minnesota. After the war, many Dakota Sioux were removed to reservations.
1868, Treaty of Fort Laramie: The U.S. government promises to protect Sioux lands, including the Black Hills, and guarantees the Great Sioux Reservation to the Sioux.
1871, Indian Appropriations Act: The U.S. government ended its practice of treating Native American tribes as sovereign nations and placed them under federal authority.
1874, Discovery of Gold in the Black Hills: General Custer leads an expedition into the Black Hills and finds gold, violating the 1868 treaty.
1875, Sioux Resistance: Sioux tribes refuse to leave the Black Hills, resisting U.S. efforts to seize the land.
1876, The Great Sioux War Begins: The U.S. government demands that the Sioux return to reservations. The Sioux, under leaders like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, resisted. The Battle of the Little Bighorn (June 25, 1876) occurs. General George Armstrong Custer and his forces are defeated and killed by the Sioux and Cheyenne near the Little Bighorn River.
1877, U.S. Government Seizes the Black Hills: After the Sioux’s resistance, the U.S. government seized the Black Hills and forced the Sioux to give up the land, violating the 1868 treaty again.
1889, Sioux Reservations: From 1851 to 1889, the nine major Sioux reservations were established, none in the Back Hills for the Lakota.
1889, Dakota Territory Divided: It was divided into two parts, and North Dakota and South Dakota were admitted as states.
1924, Indian Citizenship Act: It made Native Americans U.S. Citizens.
1980, U.S. Supreme Court: Ruled that the Black Hills were taken illegally and awarded the Lakota a monetary settlement of $105 million, which the Lakota rejected. They continue to fight to regain control of their sacred land.
