Experts are weighing in on\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>‘s open desire to be the fifth face on Mount Rushmore.<\/p>\n Trump has floated the idea of adding himself to the famed South Dakota mountainside since his first term, reportedly fancying the idea so much that then-South Dakota Gov.\u00a0Kristi Noem<\/a>\u00a0gifted him\u00a0an $1,100 bust of his face in the lineup<\/a>\u00a0during his park visit in 2020.<\/p>\n The possibility of a five-face Rushmore has garnered renewed interest among Trump’s most loyal supporters since his return to office,\u00a0culminating in a House bill<\/a>\u00a0introduced by Florida Rep.\u00a0Anna Paulina Luna<\/a>. But the question of whether the plan could \u2014 or should \u2014 work still looms.<\/p>\n Trump isn’t the first proposed addition to the landmark \u2014\u00a0Franklin D. Roosevelt<\/a>,\u00a0John F. Kennedy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ronald Reagan<\/a>\u00a0have also been mentioned in the past as possible additions. But a longstanding argument against any updates to the sculpture, said Dan Wenk, the former superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, is that the piece of art is already finished, visually and rhetorically.<\/p>\n According to the\u00a0National Park Service<\/a>, the four presidents carved on Mount Rushmore were specifically chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum to represent major facets of the United States’ first 150 years:\u00a0George Washington<\/a>,\u00a0Thomas Jefferson<\/a>,\u00a0Teddy Roosevelt<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Abraham Lincoln<\/a>\u00a0represent the birth, growth, development and preservation of the country, respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t add another face to Borglum\u2019s Mount Rushmore just like you wouldn\u2019t add one to da Vinci\u2019s \u2018Last Supper,\u2019\u201d Wenk told\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cBut I recognize that these types of ideas are no longer off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Another, more practical point is that the mountain may not be able to withstand any further alteration.<\/p>\n During the sculpture’s creation from 1927 to 1941, questions were constantly raised about the reliability of the mountain’s composite, as the rock was in many places delicate and unpredictable. The National Park Service told the\u00a0Times\u00a0<\/em>in a statement that there simply isn’t room for another face on the side of the mountain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe carved portion of Mount Rushmore has been thoroughly evaluated, and there are no viable locations left for additional carvings,\u201d the park service told the outlet.<\/p>\n Borglum \u2014 the main mind behind Mount Rushmore’s design \u2014\u00a0ultimately changed his plan nine times, due to rock inconsistency, fractures and fragility in the mountain.<\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/6QzD4z8K0r8noMx4fuGEg9FO8Yk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/donald-melania-trump-mount-rushmore-070125-6ca2203861f84b13bfa3b81f8a22bd3d.jpg\")
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