Trump Demands Giant Washington Statues at Smithsonian Museum

President Trump asked the Smithsonian to install an 11-foot and a 30-foot George Washington statue and a hero exhibit through 2032.

In social media posts made while flying to his golf course in Ireland, Trump asked the Smithsonian to install an 11-foot Washington statue — the one featured at the recent Freedom 250 IndyCar race — in the National Museum of American History's Flag Hall for Constitution Day on September 17, and to mount a special exhibit honoring the first president that would run through February 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington's birth. He also wants a 30-foot statue of Washington to replace the current "Infinity" sculpture by New York artist Jose de Rivera, which was commissioned by the federal government and installed in 1967. On Truth Social, Trump called Washington "easily America's Greatest Hero" and complained that the museum does not currently mention Washington's fabled crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War. He further suggested the museum should replace its recently ended Center for Restorative History initiative with a "Center for American Heroes."

It is not clear that Trump has the power to order the museum to make these changes. The Smithsonian operates outside the executive branch, and its leadership is overseen by a Board of Regents that includes Vice President JD Vance, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, and a group of citizens. The demand nonetheless fits a broader pattern: in March, Trump revealed his intention to force changes at the institution with an executive order targeting funding for programs that advanced what he called "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," and in July he ordered signs placed in front of the U.S. history museum telling visitors that some exhibits are inaccurate. The White House also published a lengthy report this year complaining that the institution had not done enough to highlight Washington and other founders.

The statue push comes alongside other Trump-building projects that polling shows are unpopular. An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted among 1,292 U.S. adults (±2.8 points) found that 56% of Americans oppose tearing down the White House East Wing for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, while 52% oppose a proposed 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery and 68% oppose adding Trump's signature to paper currency. The ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll also found Republican support for the ballroom rose from 62% to 72% after the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in April, while nearly 9 in 10 Democrats oppose the project.

Whether the Smithsonian will act on the requests remains uncertain, given its independence from the executive branch and the timing: institution secretary Lonnie Bunch announced this week that he is stepping down at the end of the year. Statues remain a consistent theme in Trump's wider effort to reshape the capital — he has proposed a park along the Potomac River to display statues of 250 prominent Americans and has already installed a Washington statue in his remodeled Rose Garden patio. The last word for now goes to the president himself, who, as PBS News reports, wrote on Truth Social that without Washington, "our Country and our Freedoms wouldn't exist."