ExecutiveOrdersEO
EO 13934Executive OrderTrump 45 · R

Executive Order 13934

Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes

This executive order establishes an Interagency Task Force to create a "National Garden of American Heroes" featuring realistic statues of historically significant Americans, with a target opening before July 4, 2026. It also directs federal agencies to prioritize funding for new monuments and educational programs about American founding ideals, while requiring lifelike rather than abstract artistic representations.

Federal Register Open PDF 85 FR 41165

Impact dates

  1. 47d ago

    National Garden should open before 250th anniversary of Declaration of Independence

  2. NEH annual funding report for FY2021

  3. Task Force report on National Garden options due to President

Key directives

  • Establish Interagency Task Force chaired by Interior Secretary
  • Submit National Garden options report within 60 days
  • Open National Garden before July 4, 2026
  • Prioritize lifelike/realistic statues, prohibit abstract/modernist representations
  • Revise GSA Art in Architecture policies to prioritize historically significant Americans
  • NEH to prioritize funding for founding documents and ideals education
  • NEH annual reports on funding allocation through FY2026
  • Attorney General to apply EO 13933 protections to National Garden and commissioned statues

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Task Force establishment with Interior Secretary as chair
  • Cross-department initiatives required at NEA, NEH, and ACHP

Near term (90d)

  • Task Force report on National Garden options due
  • GSA Art in Architecture policies revision

Long term

  • National Garden targeted opening before July 4, 2026
  • Annual NEH funding reports through FY2026

Risks & tensions

  • Subject to availability of appropriations may limit implementation without Congressional funding
  • Specific named individuals for statues (e.g., Antonin Scalia, Billy Graham) embeds contested political choices
  • Prohibition on abstract/modernist art represents unusual federal aesthetic mandate
  • Lifelike representation requirement may conflict with contemporary artistic practice
  • Vague 'expeditiously' and 'as appropriate' language creates implementation uncertainty
  • Potential First Amendment tensions around government-compelled artistic style
Executive Order 13934: Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes · Executive Orders