Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Thursday requesting that he “explore” the addition of President Donald Trump’s figure to Mount Rushmore.
“Given the scale and scope of recent achievements under President Donald J. Trump…it is appropriate to explore the addition of his likeness to Mount Rushmore,” Ogles wrote. “Mount Rushmore honors presidents who represent the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the United States. President Trump’s leadership advances each of those pillars.”
I'm asking @SecretaryBurgum to put Trump on Mt. Rushmore.
Given the scale and scope of President Trump’s recent achievements—especially the impending enactment of the Big Beautiful Bill, the historic act that will ignite America’s Golden Age—it is essential that we immortalize… pic.twitter.com/KougHxnKT2
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) July 3, 2025
Ogles argued that Trump’s accomplishments during his tenure so far as president are not “transient” and are instead “structural changes with lasting national significance” that align with the legacies of the monument’s existing figures – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
“For decades, historians, economists, and public servants will measure their work against the standards reestablished by President Trump,” Ogles added.
Ogles went on to acknowledge the potential logistical and political challenges to the addition of Trump’s figure to Mount Rushmore, but continued to call for a formal feasibility study and public consultation to evaluate the proposal fairly.
“The Department of the Interior owes the American people a full, fair, and transparent consideration of how best to commemorate presidential legacies of enduring consequence. That includes opening a formal review of how President Trump’s leadership might be symbolically recognized on par with the leaders already enshrined,” Ogles wrote.
“We urge you to initiate a feasibility assessment-technical, legal, and cultural-for this proposal, and to engage with public sentiment and expert consultation on the matter,” he added.
The Tennessee congressman concluded by emphasizing that Mount Rushmore should reflect the evolving history of the United States, including Trump’s impact.
“The legacy of Mount Rushmore is not frozen in stone. It is alive in the American memory, and it should evolve to reflect the full arc of our nation’s history-including its most recent and transformative chapters,” he wrote.
Ogles’ letter comes months after a bill was filed in the U.S. House which seeks Trump’s addition to Mount Rushmore.
In January, Florida U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13) filed the one-page bill, which would direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, to “arrange for the carving of the figure of President Donald J. Trump on Mount Rushmore National Memorial.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Trump on Mount Rushmore” by The Heritage Foundation.
Not an idea that I support. Find another non-historic place to memorialize President Trump. This said by a Trump supporter appreciative of his sacrifices and accomplishments.
Maybe he thinks Trump is going to save his bacon. Last time I heard, Ogles was under investigation by the FBI over campaign finance irregularities.
I AGREE.
HE HAS CERTAINLY EARNED IT.
HE HAS SACRIFICED HIS OWN WEALTH & TIME IN ORDER TO SAVE THIS COUNTRY FROM FALLING INTO THE ABYSS.
FROM THE DEMOCRAT SOCIALISTS aka American Communists to Islamacists Supremacists to Chinese Communists America is under attack from within thanks to the 4 years under Biden & 8 yrs of Obama/Biden. They were both illegitimate Presidents in my opinion, who hated America, with the goal of the “Transformation of America”.
Trump has saved the America Dream for our children & for the next 250 years.
It’s totally appropriate to put his image on the mountain with the other great Presidents.
I’m a conservative, but It seems that Mr. Ogles is trying to just gain publicity for himself.