• Trump’s $34 million National Garden of American Heroes faces major delays due to a tight nine-month deadline.
• The U.S. lacks enough sculptors and foundries to complete 250 statues quickly.
• The garden’s location and design remain undecided as artists await final selections.

President Donald Trump wants to create a large national sculpture garden. He plans to include statues of at least 250 American heroes. The garden should be ready by July 2026. This date marks the 250th birthday of the United States. Trump made this promise in 2020 while speaking in front of Mount Rushmore. He said statues honoring great Americans would soon appear across the country. Now, more than three years later, Trump is working hard to keep this promise. However, many experts say the plan faces serious problems, especially with timing and resources.

Tight Deadlines Make Experts Doubt the Project’s Success

The biggest challenge comes from the tight schedule. The artists will have just about nine months to complete the statues. Daniel Kunitz, editor of Sculpture magazine, said the plan “seems completely unworkable.” He told Politico the deadline is too short for such a huge project. Kunitz even called the project a form of “trolling,” meaning it might not be serious. When a project asks artists to create hundreds of sculptures so quickly, it can cause problems. The time needed to design, sculpt, and cast these statues usually takes years, not months. Many experts believe that rushing this process will lower the quality of the artwork.

Lack of Skilled Artists and Foundries in the U.S.

The U.S. does not have enough sculptors or foundries to handle such a large task fast enough. Dylan Farnum, who used to run the well-known Walla Walla Foundry, said the country’s capacity for this kind of work is limited. He warned that trying to produce so many statues quickly would overload artists and foundries. Farnum suggested that Trump might have to turn to countries like China, where factories can produce statues much faster. He said China has the ability to “whip some stuff off” quickly, unlike many American foundries. This shortage of resources makes the plan even more difficult to achieve on time.

Trump Issues New Executive Order to Push the Project Forward

Earlier this year, Trump signed a new executive order to revive and speed up the project. The order describes the garden as a tribute to America’s “timeless exceptionalism.” It states that the garden will honor heroes who fought battles, championed ideas, cured diseases, saved lives, achieved great heights, and inspired hope. Trump’s order also demands the garden be built “as expeditiously as possible,” pushing for fast action. However, the order does not specify where the garden will be located or what it will look like. So far, the governor of South Dakota has offered land near Mount Rushmore as a possible site.

Artists Apply to Sculpt Statues, But Selection Is Still Unclear

The White House is accepting artist applications until July 1. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) oversees the selection process. The NEH, together with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), plans to fund the project with \$34 million. Artists must choose 10 to 20 names from Trump’s list of heroes. They then say which heroes they want to sculpt. Each artist may get selected to make up to three sculptures. For each statue completed, artists can earn up to \$200,000. This application process gives some hope to artists, but the details remain complicated.

Famous American Figures Included in the Heroes List

The list of heroes includes many famous Americans from various fields. It features NBA legend Kobe Bryant, singer Whitney Houston, and Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman, the famous gardener. Other well-known figures include Walt Disney, Harriet Tubman, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jackie Robinson, and Rosa Parks. These names show that Trump wants to honor people from sports, music, history, civil rights, and other areas. However, artists will not know which heroes they will sculpt until September. This delay adds more pressure to complete the statues quickly.

Artists Face Pressure to Finish Statues by Mid-2026

Once the artists get approval, they have until June 2026 to finish their sculptures. They must deliver the statues to the government roughly a month before the country’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. This deadline means the artists will work under strong time pressure. Daniel Kunitz explained that this is much faster than normal. Usually, creating sculptures involves long periods of planning and cooperation. The Trump administration may want to review and approve designs, which will slow the process even more. Kunitz said finishing hundreds of statues in such a short time is “highly unlikely.”

Uncertain Future for the National Garden Project

The National Endowment for the Humanities did not respond to requests for comments. The project has a huge budget and a clear goal. Yet, it still lacks a confirmed location and clear design plans. The short timeline and limited resources make it hard to believe the garden will be ready on time. Trump’s dream to honor American heroes with a grand sculpture garden faces many obstacles. Whether the project will succeed remains uncertain as the July 2026 deadline approaches.