Trump says the UFC fight will come to the White House for America’s 250th birthday
President Donald Trump said some of America’s 250th birthday celebrations include the 2026 UFC fight at the White House.
- President Trump’s “American Heroes in the National Gardens” project is being sought to raise $40 million.
- The garden, previously revoked by President Biden, aims to feature statues of up to 250 well-known American figures.
- The final list of numbers and garden locations has not yet been determined.
President Donald Trump’s project to build a “National Garden of American Heroes” was awarded $40 million thanks to a megaville known as the “Big Beautiful Building.”
In February, Trump announced that he ordered the creation of a new national park to display statues of “the largest American who ever lived in.” Trump signed a similar executive order in 2020, and former President Joe Biden revoked it the following year.
The order to revive the project is part of a larger initiative commemorating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, and the Trump administration hopes to complete the garden by July 2026. They are assigned historical figures to be portrayed on the statue by Neha.
So who will be commemorated with these statues? Here’s what we know:
Who is in the “National Garden of American Heroes”?
The original order suggested that statues should portray “historically significant Americans” such as scientists, civil rights leaders, police officers, labor leaders, judges, authors, and teachers.
“No one has lived a perfect life, but everything is worth paying respect, remembering and studying,” the order of 2020.
In 2021, a few days before he took office, Trump signed an order expanding his list of people to nearly 200. They include:
- John Adams
- Susan B. Anthony
- Clara Burton
- Daniel Boone
- Joshua Chamberlain
- Henry Clay
- Davy Crockett
- Frederick Douglas
- Amelia Earhart
- Benjamin Franklin
- Billy Graham
- Alexander Hamilton
- Thomas Jefferson
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Abraham Lincoln
- Douglas MacArthur
- Dolly Madison
- James Madison
- Christa McAuliffe
- Audi Murphy
- George S. Patton Jr.
- Ronald Reagan
- Jackie Robinson
- Betsy Ross
- Anton’s Scalia
- Harriet Beecherstow
- Harriet Tubman
- Booker T. Washington
- George Washington
- Orville and Wilbur Wright
- Elvis Presley
- Whitney Houston
- Helen Keller
Trump’s revived order encourages presidential assistants to include other potential numbers in their yards for domestic policy, bringing the total number of respected people to 250.
The White House did not provide any updates on the final list of people included.
According to the NEH application request, the statue must be life-size and be made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass.
Where is Hero Garden?
The location has not been decided yet.
The 2020 order specifies that the park is located in a “place of natural beauty” close to the hub of at least one population, avoiding community disruption.
Trump first announced his plans in front of Mount Rushmore. Some people in South Dakota seem eager to bring statue gardens to the state. The mining company, which owns the land near Mount Rushmore, provided a portion of the land for Trump’s garden.
“We want to provide the same black hills that are perfect for this garden,” South Dakota Gov. Larry Roden said in a letter to Trump on March 18th. “In fact, we have a parcel of land available right in front of Mount Rushmore, ideal for this wonderful effort.”
Contributors: Jason Lalgie, Muir Grop, Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA Today Network. Contact her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and Tiktok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
