In a Monday tweet, Trump denied that an aide called the South Dakota governor to ask what the process would be to have his face added to the massive structure.
Does President Donald Trump really want his face added to Mount Rushmore? According to a report from The New York Times, a White House aide reached out to the South Dakota Governor's office asking what the process was to add additional presidents to the massive sculpture carved into the side of the mountain.
Trump denied the report in a Monday tweet.
"Never suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other presidency, sounds like a good idea to me," he wrote.
Trump first floated the idea, apparently as a joke, just six months into his presidency.
"I'd ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore, but no — here's the problem," the president said during a 2017 speech. "If I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake-news media will say, 'He believes he should be on Mount Rushmore!' So I won't say it, OK? I won't say."
But South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said in a 2018 interview that he wasn't laughing when he told her.
"He was totally serious," Noem said.
It would take an act of Congress to add a face to Mount Rushmore, but experts say construction would destabilize the whole monument.
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