South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Thursday she has no plans to put former President Donald Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore.
“I don’t think we’re adding any faces to Mount Rushmore any time soon. It is pretty special just the way it is,” the Republican governor told The Guardian newspaper.
The idea first surfaced in 2018, when Ms. Noem recounted meeting Mr. Trump in the Oval Office.
She told him she was from South Dakota and that it is the home of Mount Rushmore, a national memorial in the Black Hills region that features the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
“He said, ‘Oh, did you know that it is my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?’ And I was surprised by that. We laughed and chuckled about it,” Ms. Noem said at the time.
The National Park Service oversees Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
Park officials have told the Argus Leader, a newspaper in South Dakota, that there is no more stable rock on the mountain that can host a fifth president’s face, despite decadeslong speculation about adding Ronald Reagan or another notable president.
Ms. Noem said she floated another option to Mr. Trump — pick another mountain.
Confirmation that Mr. Trump’s dream won’t come to fruition comes amid speculation about Ms. Noem’s political future.
She famously resisted economic lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and is considered a rising star in the party who could launch a 2024 presidential bid or become Mr. Trump’s running mate if he secures the GOP nomination again.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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