Donald Trump Secretly Installs Thomas Jefferson Statue in Rose Garden

Details of the Jefferson Statue

The sculpture, created 25 years ago by Nebraska-born artist George Lundeen, depicts the nation’s third president seated on a bench with a quill in hand and a draft of the Declaration of Independence resting on his lap. According to sources familiar with the move, the statue arrived at the White House at the end of June and underwent a period of examination by security experts before being placed in the garden.

Lundeen, who also sculpted a 7-foot, 700-pound bronze monument of Trump depicting his raised fist following a 2024 assassination attempt, received personal praise from the president regarding the Jefferson piece. I just wanted to thank you. The sculpture looks really beautiful, Trump told the artist. Filmmaker Steven C. Barber served as a go-between for the sculptor and the White House during the process.

Transformations in the Rose Garden

The Jefferson effigy is the fifth statue added to the Rose Garden since Trump replaced the central grass lawn with a stone patio. It joins existing sculptures of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and a work titled Freedom’s Charge, which honors Revolutionary War soldiers.

While a White House spokesperson described the additions as part of a move to beautify and honor our Nation’s Capital during America’s historic 250 anniversary celebrations, the origin of some pieces has drawn scrutiny. The statues of Franklin, Hamilton, and the Freedom’s Charge sculpture are on loan from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. Although the White House has referred to the lenders as generous private American patriots, a spokesperson for Crow confirmed the loan, noting the pieces were previously installed at his Old Parkland corporate campus in Dallas, Texas.

Context of Historical Statuary

The addition of the Jefferson statue aligns with a broader strategy by the administration to elevate historical figures who became focal points during the 2020 racial justice protests. Throughout his tenure, Trump has emphasized the importance of realistic, traditional art, explicitly mandating in previous executive orders that federal monuments avoid modernist or abstract designs.

Earlier this year, the administration installed a replica of a Christopher Columbus statue that had been removed from public view in Baltimore following 2020 unrest. Additionally, the administration returned a statue of Caesar Rodney—a signer of the Declaration of Independence who was an enslaver—to public display in Freedom Plaza after it had been removed in Delaware.

Critics, including Maxwell Anderson, the former president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, have characterized this focus on classical, monumental art as an aesthetic preference that finds its closest parallels in the styles favored by authoritarian regimes.

Sources: Washingtonpost, The Daily Beast.