Overview
- The life‑size bronze of Thomas Jefferson by sculptor George Lundeen was quietly installed in the Rose Garden last week, the White House has confirmed.
- The statue shows Jefferson seated with a draft of the Declaration of Independence and joins four other recent additions in the paved Rose Garden.
- Three of the other pieces — statues of Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and the Revolutionary‑era group “Freedom’s Charge” — were reported to be loans from conservative donor Harlan Crow, highlighting private patron involvement.
- Officials said the Jefferson sculpture arrived at the end of June and underwent a security review before erection, and reporting says President Trump personally called the artist to thank him.
- The installation is part of a wider Trump program to install realistic classical monuments across Washington, a move praised by supporters as restoration and criticized by opponents as politicizing public memory and whitewashing fraught histories.