Donald Trump’s aspiration to have his face carved into Mount Rushmore is improbable due to concerns about the sculpture’s stability if it were to be altered.
The four existing faces on the South Dakota mountain hold significant historical value and represent popular American figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
While Trump’s inclusion on the monument would spark controversy, he technically has the authority to instruct his administration to initiate the process of adding his likeness to Mount Rushmore.
Robin Borglum Kennedy, the granddaughter of the iconic artist Gutzon Borglum who dreamed up and executed the sculpture, believes it is no place for Trump – or any other living president.
‘It was conceived as a tribute to the ideals of America,’ she told the New York Times.
‘Not to any one man.’
Borglum Kennedy believes Mount Rushmore is a historic memorial to America, rather than a tribute to the politics of the men who her grandfather chose to include.
And experts have warned any new additions risks destroying the four monuments which already exist among the cracks and fractures deep within the stone.
Pictured: Artist Lee Leuning reimagined Mount Rushmore with Trump’s inclusion
President Donald Trump ‘s dream of one day being carved into Mount Rushmore is unlikely to ever become a reality due to concerns the sculpture could collapse if it’s tampered with
Geomechanical engineer Paul Nelson, who worked on the monitoring system at Mount Rushmore, warned: ‘One of the concerns about an additional face is that you could activate these fractures.
‘If you remove material, you could be removing support.’
Nelson noted it would be ‘extremely difficult, if not impossible, to carve an additional face on Mount Rushmore’, warning as an example that a new face could cost Lincoln’s nose.
While there is technically plenty of room for another face, the reality is the rock is so fragile it might not be possible.
While much of the mountain is granite, there are pockets of pegmatite crystal, rose quartz and schist which are unsuitable for carving.
Borglum had to abandon his plans of carving torsos for each of the former presidents due to the instability of much of the rock, and even stopped works on one of the faces and moved its location after it was determined the area to the side of Lincoln was unstable.
In all, he changed his initial plans nine times to work around the challenges of the rock.
Even within the faces there are deep chasms and cracks which had to be delicately worked around and left in place to avoid risking the integrity of the entire work.
Even within the faces there are deep chasms and cracks which had to be delicately worked around and left in place to avoid risking the integrity of the entire work
Borglum (pictured) had to abandon his plans of carving torsos for each of the former presidents due to the instability of much of the rock, and even stopped works on one of the faces and moved its location after it was determined the area to the side of Lincoln was unstable
In all, he changed his initial plans nine times to work around the challenges of the rock
Former superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Dan Wenk said: ‘You wouldn’t add another face to Borglum’s Mount Rushmore just like you wouldn’t add one to da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’.’
‘But I recognize that these types of ideas are no longer off the table.
‘Fortunately, from my view, and not just for Trump but anybody else, they’re fighting against the reality of the rock.’
Trump first expressed his dreams of one day being memorialized on Mount Rushmore during his first term in a conversation with then South Dakota representative Kristi Noem.
He said it was his ‘dream’ to be included on the mountain. In response, Noem gave Trump a model sculpture of Mount Rushmore with his face included on it.
But the idea resurfaced after he was reelected, when MAGA congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna filed legislation to make the change.
The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
The National Park Service has shot down any ambitions to expand the sculpture, arguing in a statement: ‘The carved portion of Mount Rushmore has been thoroughly evaluated, and there are no viable locations left for additional carvings.’
