Trump Installs Thomas Jefferson Statue in the Rose Garden
The artist behind the piece is also responsible for a MAGA-friendly Trump statue.
President Donald Trump continues to furnish the White House Rose Garden with statues of his favorite predecessors, most recently adding a bronze of the third US President, Thomas Jefferson.
Made by Colorado-based artist George Lundeen, the statue portrays the founding father seated on a bench with a quill in his hand and the Declaration of Independence on his lap. He looks into the distance, as if he's pausing to ponder while authoring the historical document.
The Jefferson piece marks the fifth addition to Trump's Rose Garden, which already contains sculptures of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and "Freedom's Charge" — a statue depicting two Revolutionary War soldiers.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, Lundeen said that he had completed the statue 25 years ago. "Without Thomas Jefferson, you have to wonder whether there would be a United States of America," he said.
The artist also collaborated on a statue of the president holding a "Make America Great Again" hat and pumping the air with his fist — a posture meant to capture Trump's reaction immediately after the 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. That piece now resides in Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Implementing the Jefferson statue is one of Trump's latest efforts to reshape the White House Grounds and DC at large. Since renovations to the Rose Garden began in 2020, Trump has razed the Kennedy-Era Lawn in favor of a Mar-a-Lago-style patio, and installed a "Presidential Walk of Fame" with portraits of all US presidents except for Joe Biden, who was sarcastically replaced with an autopen device.
Trump's aesthetic aims extend to other parts of the capital city. In June, six heritage preservation groups based in Washington, DC, sued the Trump administration over its plans to create a "Garden of American Heroes" in West Potomac Park. The garden is meant to include 250 American heroes, from Muhammad Ali and Frederick Douglass, to divisive figures like Christopher Columbus, whose likeness made an earlier appearance in the White House compound in March.
