President Donald Trump revealed plans Thursday to honor multiple Black historical figures with statues in the National Garden of American Heroes, making the announcement during a White House Black History Month reception.
“We’re picking the final sites now. It’s between various states that want it very badly. We’ll honor hundreds of our greatest Americans to ever live, including countless Black American icons,” Trump told guests in the East Room.
The new additions include civil rights leaders, musicians, and athletes.
“The garden will predominantly feature incredible women like Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Coretta Scott King,” Trump said, followed by announcing statues for “Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson — what a great athlete he was. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and the late Kobe Bryant.”
The National Garden of American Heroes, originally unveiled by Trump in 2020 and located on the National Mall, recently had its completion timeline modified.
The president amended his original executive order to remove the July 4, 2026 deadline, instead directing the project be finished “as expeditiously as possible” after President Joe Biden delayed construction for four years.
“The National Garden will be built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism,” Trump stated in his 2021 executive order. “It will be a place where citizens, young and old, can renew their vision of greatness.”
“During Black History Month, we pay tribute to these heroes and to so many others, but not simply because they’re Black heroes, but also because they are truly American heroes who inspire all of us, very much so,” Trump said at the ceremony, which was attended by professional golfer Tiger Woods, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Bryant, a decorated NBA and Olympic champion, will be the most recently deceased person honored at the site, which is designed to celebrate American heroes from all walks of life through statues, busts, and commemorative plaques.