Trump vows to add Black icons to proposed National Garden of American Heroes

President Trump shared plans to feature more than 10 Black historical figures in his proposed National Garden of American Heroes during a Thursday White House reception for Black History Month.

“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 said before a crowd of guests packed in the East Room.

“The garden will predominantly feature incredible women like Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Coretta Scott King,” he said to the sound of applause.

Last month, the president amended his original executive order outlining developments for the National Garden of American Heroes to strike the goal of completing the site “prior to the 250th anniversary of the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026,” instead urging it be finished “as expeditiously as possible.”

He noted Black men would also be honored with sculptures.

“We're going to produce some of the most beautiful works of art in the form of a statue for men like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson. What a great athlete he was. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali..,” President Trump stated.

“And the late Kobe Bryant.”

The large group includes Civil Rights activists, world-renowned singers and athletes who broke barriers in sports during the age of segregation.

“The National Garden will be built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism. It will be a place where citizens, young and old, can renew their vision of greatness and take up the challenge that I gave every American in my first address to Congress, to ‘[b]elieve in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe, once more, in America,’” the president described in his 2021 executive order.

Bryant, a decorated NBA and Olympic champion, is the most recently deceased person to earn recognition at the site.

“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 declared at the Thursday event attended by professional golfer Tiger Woods, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, among others.

His comments come in the wake of recent controversy over a series of executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion measures in the federal workforce, public education and military.

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