Trump statuary – A coalition of six preservation and cultural groups filed suit June 15 challenging President Donald Trump’s plan for a statuary garden at West Potomac Park on the National Mall, arguing the project violates federal law and lacks congressional authorization.
For Washington, the fight isn’t just about what the Trump administration wants to build—it’s also about what it says Congress has already settled.
On June 15. a coalition of six preservation and cultural groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the president’s plan to create a statuary garden at West Potomac Park on the National Mall. The groups say the site and the proposal run afoul of federal laws and have not been authorized by Congress.
The project is called the National Garden of American Heroes. It is expected to feature 250 statues of historical figures from America’s past. honoring contributions in what the plan describes as the nation’s cultural. scientific. economic and political heritage. and marking the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.
In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the groups point to the location itself. West Potomac Park sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial and is home to century-old Japanese cherry trees. The area has also been described by Trump in a May 15 Truth Social post as “a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate along our Mighty Potomac River.”.
The plaintiffs argue Trump’s proposal is incompatible with federal restrictions on new memorials in the Mall’s core spaces. “The West Potomac Plan is unlawful. Congress has made clear that the National Mall is a ‘substantially completed work of civic art’—not a personal sandbox for each President to renovate however he likes. ” the groups allege. They add that Congress has directed that no new “commemorative work” be placed within “the great cross-axis of the Mall. ” an area the lawsuit says includes West Potomac Park.
Beyond the central legal dispute. the case is the newest turn in a broader stretch of construction fights that have followed the president into Washington. The lawsuit is described as the latest among challenges to several projects he has backed. including the White House ballroom. the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, the Triumphal Arch and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump first pushed for the garden in 2020 through an executive order, setting a target completion by July 4, 2026. That executive order was revoked the following year by former President Joe Biden. After Trump retook the White House, he revived the plan within days.
On Jan. 29, 2025, Trump established the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday and reinstated his 2020 order. The executive action also altered the project timeline, directing it to be “as expeditiously as possible.”
The lawsuit argues the plan violates federal law, naming the Commemorative Works Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
Congressional money has also started moving. In July 2025, Congress appropriated $40 million to the National Endowment for the Humanities, with funds available through fiscal year 2028 “for the procurement of statues as described in” Trump’s executive orders.
The NEH says it invited grant applications from would-be artists last April. According to the NEH. the maximum award amount per life-size statue would be $200. 000. and the statues must be made of marble. granite. bronze. copper or brass. The roster of historical figures identified for the statues includes boxer Muhammad Ali, women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, jazz singer Louis Armstrong, chef and author Julia Child, and astronaut Neil Armstrong.
The dispute lands as the administration seeks to move quickly on a high-profile piece of national commemoration—at the same time the plaintiffs argue the president is trying to retrofit legal limits around the National Mall.
A spokesperson for the White House was not immediately made available for comment.
Trump West Potomac Park National Mall statuary garden National Garden of American Heroes lawsuit Commemorative Works Act National Historic Preservation Act NEH Muhammad Ali Susan B. Anthony Louis Armstrong Julia Child Neil Armstrong