South Dakota eager for Trump’s statue garden near Mount Rushmore despite local opposition
June 23, 2025
Officials in South Dakota are pushing hard to build President Donald Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes in the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore. But the effort has sparked a backlash from Indigenous groups who see the area as sacred. Trump announced the project five years ago during his first term, and he signed an executive order for the project earlier this year. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has offered Trump land owned by mining company Pete Lien & Sons for the project. It doesn’t have funding yet, though the U.S. House has allocated $40 million for it.
