President Donald Trump has replaced the White House Rose Garden’s plush lawn with a white stone patio and filled it with statues of America’s founders, turning a public-facing patch of the presidential compound into a stage set for state mythology and personal branding.
The garden, just off the Oval Office, now holds statues of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin and a bronze Thomas Jefferson seated and signing the Declaration of Independence. A fifth sculpture, named "Freedom’s Charge," sits on the patio too. The message is plain enough. Power doesn’t just govern from the White House. It curates the scenery.
A Garden Rebuilt for the Ruling Story
The Jefferson statue came from George Lundeen, a sculptor from Loveland, Colorado, who said he made it decades ago and kept it at his ranch until he decided to spruce it up and send it to Trump for display in time for July Fourth celebrations of America’s 250th birthday. Steven Barber, his friend and collaborator, said he had reached out to contacts at the White House on Lundeen’s behalf. Lundeen said, "I thought it would just be a real nice thing on the 250th for people to look at Thomas Jefferson as he was writing the Declaration of Independence."
Barber said the statue didn’t arrive in time because it was stuck on a truck partly because of heavy security around the celebratory events. That’s the machinery at work: security, logistics, access, all arranged around the needs of the state spectacle. Trump was shown photos and liked the sculpture so much that he decided to put it in the Rose Garden. Lundeen said Trump later called to thank him, but he got voicemail. After the holiday, Lundeen’s office manager insisted he listen to one message in particular. On the recording, Trump said: "Hi, George. It’s your favorite president, Donald Trump, and I just wanted to thank you. The sculpture, it looks really beautiful ... just by the picture I can see it’s really incredible, and we have a wonderful place right in the Rose Garden, and I appreciate it."
The White House said the Washington statue was lent by Harlan Crow, a Texas-based real estate tycoon and GOP megadonor. The Franklin and Hamilton statues are from anonymous donors, according to the White House. So the garden’s new patriotic display comes with the usual cast of moneyed patrons, anonymous benefactors and political influence, all tucked behind the language of heritage and celebration.
Money, Donors and the Presidential Brand
"Freedom’s Charge," a 14-foot-tall bronze sculpture of two Revolutionary War soldiers separated by a flag, was relocated from Dallas. Its sculptor, Chas Fagan, did not respond to emailed requests for comment. The White House’s account of the project frames it as beautification. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said no other president has done more to beautify the White House and its surroundings. He said: "From restoring our treasured landmarks, which had suffered years of abuse and vandalism, to cleaning our parks and the Reflecting Pool, President Trump’s bold vision ensured that America rang in its 250th birthday celebration with glory and pride." He added that Trump continues to make "long-overdue and necessary" renovations to the White House and said: "Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, the White House will be properly glorified and remain in excellent condition for generations to come."
That’s the official script: the president as builder, restorer, glorifier. The White House as a monument to itself. The language is grand, the ownership is private, and the public gets the bill in the form of spectacle.
Trump’s statue plans don’t stop at the Rose Garden. He had a statue of Christopher Columbus installed on the grounds of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in March. The National Park Service later installed a series of sculptures of Revolutionary-era subjects and themes at a plaza near the White House. Trump also wants to build a National Garden of American Heroes near the National Mall, featuring sculptures of 250 Americans who have made significant cultural, political and other historical contributions to the United States. Several preservation and cultural heritage organizations have sued to block the project, arguing that Congress must first authorize it. Barber said he and Lundeen are "in the mix" to make statues for that garden too.
The State as Gallery, the Public as Audience
At Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, a 7-foot bronze sculpture depicting him with his fist raised after the 2024 assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, is on display. It was also made by Lundeen and was given to Trump by Anthony Constantino, a businessman and Republican congressional candidate from New York. The line between public office, private property and political self-mythology gets thinner by the day.
The White House has long been an art gallery. The Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington hangs in the East Room and was saved by first lady Dolly Madison after the British set the White House on fire during the War of 1812. Trump said he went to the "vaults" and found the presidential portraits and other art he hung in the Oval Office and other rooms. Portraits of former presidents and former first ladies also adorn hallways and public rooms in the mansion. In Trump’s first term, first lady Melania Trump installed a piece by Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi near the Rose Garden, making him the first Asian American artist to be featured in the White House collection. Before that, then-first lady Michelle Obama’s renovation of the Old Family Dining Room in 2015 included a painting by Alma Thomas, the first African American female artist to have her work added to the collection.
So the White House keeps its own museum, its own canon, its own approved memory. The names change, the rituals stay. The stone patio, the donors, the lawsuits, the security, the portraits in the vaults — all of it is the same old state theater, just with better lighting and a fresh coat of patriotic varnish.