Art in all its form will be protected by President Donald Trump as he plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. As part of his national agenda, the government will create a new national sculpture garden while reviving efforts to harshly punish those who vandalize or destroy existing statues and monuments.
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday establishing a White House task force to plan what he says will be a "grand celebration worthy of the momentous occasion of the 250th anniversary of American Independence," which the country will celebrate on 4 July 2026.
Trump will serve as chair of the task force, which will include a long list of senior administration officials, including cabinet secretaries.
The order also revives Trump's plans to build a "National Garden of American Heroes" with statues memorializing 250 historical figures.
Trump first announced plans for what he said would be "a new monument to the giants of our past" in a 2020 speech celebrating Independence Day at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. It was to have featured sculptures of dozens of American historical figures, including presidents, athletes and pop culture icons.
Trump himself curated the list of who was to be included — Davy Crockett, Billy Graham, Whitney Houston, Harriet Tubman and Antonin Scalia, among others.
No site was selected, however, and the garden was never funded by Congress. President Joe Biden abolished the task force after his election.
Trump's announcement had come at a time of conservative backlash against efforts to take down statues dedicated to Confederate leaders and slave owners in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and subsequent protests.
"The National Garden will honor American heroism after dozens of monuments to Americans, including Presidents and Founding Fathers, have toppled or destroyed and never restored," said a White House document on the order shared with The Associated Press ahead of the signing.
The latest action also puts back into place an executive order President Trump signed in 2020, and which Biden also overturned, that was aimed at protecting monuments, memorials and statues from destruction and vandalism.
Trump had signed the order during the protests over racial injustice that year after police thwarted an attempt by protesters to pull down a statue of former President Andrew Jackson in a park across from the White House.
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