US President Donald Trump has sparked fresh debate over his long-discussed Mount Rushmore ambition after sharing an AI-generated image of himself carved alongside the four presidents featured on the iconic monument.
The digitally created image, posted on Trump’s Truth Social account without any caption, places him beside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln on the granite face of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
The monument, sculpted into the Black Hills near Keystone, honours four presidents chosen by artist Gutzon Borglum to represent key chapters in American history, the nation’s founding, expansion, development and preservation.
Trump’s interest in joining the landmark dates back to 2018, when he reportedly told South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem it was his “dream” to have his likeness added. He later publicly raised the idea in 2020, while some Republican lawmakers, including Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna, introduced proposals backing the move.
The idea has remained politically charged, with supporters arguing Trump’s presidency merits recognition, while the monument itself has also faced criticism and protests over its location on land sacred to Native American communities, including the Oglala Sioux Tribe.