华盛顿——唐纳德·特朗普总统对他的第二个任期有一个愿景，如果他赢得一个任期，那就是建立一个“美国英雄国家花园”，向美国历史上一些最杰出的人物致敬，一个“有史以来最伟大的美国人”的集合
周五晚上在拉什莫尔山的一次演讲中传达了他的想法，并在一份行政命令中进一步阐述了这一想法。此时，当选官员和机构正在考虑是否应该继续以纪念碑、建筑物和街道来纪念那些受益于奴隶制或支持种族主义观点的人，包括过去的总统。
这个超过30人的团体包括开国元勋和总统、民权先驱和航空创新者、探险家和将军。
特朗普最初的名单中没有任何美国土著、西班牙裔或亚裔人士。白宫和内政部拒绝就名单是如何组成的发表评论。
特朗普周六热情洋溢地谈到他的选择是一个“不可思议的群体”，但也指出他们“只是他正在考虑的几个人”，而且“可能会改变”
特朗普在白宫纪念独立日的“向美国致敬”庆祝活动上发表演讲时说:“但一旦我们做出决定，那些伟大的名字就会出现，永远不会消失。”。
可以肯定的是，这座纪念碑还远未达成协议，如果民主党推定提名人乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在11月拒绝他连任，或者国会拒绝为该项目分配资金，特朗普的计划可能会落空。
特朗普的名单包括乔治·华盛顿、托马斯·杰弗逊、亚伯拉罕·林肯和马丁·路德·金，他们都已经在华盛顿的国家广场上或附近有代表，还有苏珊·安东尼、丹尼尔·布恩、大卫·克洛科特、弗雷德里克·道格拉斯、阿米莉亚·埃尔哈特、葛培理、道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟、克丽斯塔·麦考利夫、杰基·罗宾逊、贝茜·罗斯、比切·斯托夫人、哈丽雅特·塔布曼、布克·华盛顿和奥维尔及威尔伯·赖特。
但特朗普也在寻求在美国伟大的理念上打上一个意识形态的烙印，其中包括保守的坚定者、已故最高法院大法官安东尼·斯卡利亚。
在乔治·弗洛伊德在明尼阿波利斯去世后，特朗普在最近几周一再谴责示威者在抗议种族不公正和警察暴行期间亵渎和推倒历史雕像。
“我们将培养下一代美国爱国者，”特朗普在拉什莫尔山说。“我们将书写美国冒险的下一个激动人心的篇章。我们将教育我们的孩子，让他们知道他们生活在一个充满传奇的国度，没有什么能阻止他们，也没有人能压制他们。”
他的行政命令说，这个花园应该在2024年7月4日之前开放，他把它留给一个联邦特别工作组，就联邦资金的使用和一个拟议的地点提出建议。该命令指定“一个自然美景的地点”，该地点至少靠近一个主要的人口中心。
该命令称，应该优先考虑前总统的纪念碑，优先考虑与发现美洲、建立美国和废除奴隶制有关的个人和事件。“没有人会过上完美的生活，但是所有的都值得尊敬、回忆和研究，”根据顺序。
该命令包括明确的语言，即在美国历史上扮演重要角色的非美国公民也可以在花园里受到表彰。
作为对美国公共生活做出实质性贡献或对美国历史产生实质性影响的个人的例子，它引用了:意大利探险家克里斯托弗·哥伦布;朱尼佩罗·塞拉，罗马天主教牧师，在加利福尼亚建立了西班牙传教团;和参加美国独立战争的法国军官拉·费耶特侯爵。
一尊哥伦布的雕像因虐待土著美国人而受到批评，上周在俄亥俄州哥伦布市市政厅外被移走。上个月，抗议者推倒了旧金山金门公园的塞拉雕像。一些历史学家说，被天主教会封为圣徒的塞拉有着复杂的历史，包括他在18世纪作为西班牙帝国殖民努力的代理人。
特朗普周五再次抨击“左翼文化革命”，他说这场革命是在教育美国儿童，“建设“国家”的男男女女不是英雄，而是恶棍。”
特朗普说:“美国历史的激进观点是一张谎言的网——所有的观点都被移除了，所有的美德都被遮蔽了，所有的动机都被扭曲了，所有的事实都被扭曲了，所有的瑕疵都被放大了，直到历史被清除，记录被毁容得面目全非。”。
Amid furor over monuments, Trump seeks `garden' of US heroes
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has a vision for his second term, if he wins one, of establishing a “National Garden of American Heroes” that will pay tribute to some of the most prominent figures in U.S. history, a collection of “the greatest Americans to ever live.”
His idea, conveyed in a speech Friday night at Mount Rushmore and expanded on in an executive order, comes as elected officials and institutions are reckoning with whether it is appropriate to continue to honor people, including past presidents, who benefited from slavery or espoused racist views, with monuments or buildings and streets named after them.
The group of 30-plus features Founding Fathers and presidents, civil rights pioneers and aviation innovators, explorers and generals.
Absent from Trump’s initial list are any Native American, Hispanic or Asian-American individuals. The White House and Interior Department declined to comment on how the list was assembled.
Trump on Saturday spoke glowingly about his selections as an “incredible group,” but also noted they “are just a few of the people” he is considering and “are subject to change.”
“But once we make that decision, those great names are going to be up there and they’re never coming down,” Trump said in a speech at his "Salute for America" celebration at the White House to mark Independence Day.
To be certain, the monument is far from a done deal and Trump’s plan could be dashed if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden denies him a second term in November or Congress balks at allocating funding for the project.
Trump's list includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., all already represented on or near the National Mall in Washington, along with Susan B. Anthony, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Billy Graham, Douglas MacArthur, Christa McAuliffe, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington and Orville and Wilbur Wright.
But Trump also is looking to put an ideological stamp on the idea of American greatness with the inclusion of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia, the late Supreme Court Justice.
Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly condemned the desecration and toppling of historic statues by demonstrators during protests over racial injustice and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We will raise the next generation of American patriots,” Trump said at Mount Rushmore. “We will write the next thrilling chapter of the American adventure. And we will teach our children to know that they live in a land of legends, that nothing can stop them, and that no one can hold them down.”
His executive order says the garden should open before July 4, 2024, and he leaves it up to a federal task force to make recommendations about the use of federal money and a proposed site. The order specifies “a site of natural beauty” that is near at least one major population center.
The order says priority should be given to monuments to former presidents, to individuals and events relating to the discovery of America, the founding of the United States, and the abolition of slavery. “None will have lived perfect lives, but all will be worth honoring, remembering, and studying,” according to the order.
The order includes language to make clear that non-U.S. citizens who played significant roles in American history also could be honored in the garden.
As examples of individuals who made substantive contributions to America’s public life or otherwise had a substantive effect on America’s history, it cites: Italian explorer Christopher Columbus; Junipero Serra, a Roman Catholic priest who established Spanish missions in California; and the Marquis de La Fayette, a French officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
A statue of Columbus, who has been criticized for brutal treatment of Native Americans, was removed this past week from outside the city hall in Columbus, Ohio. Last month, protesters toppled a statue of Serra in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Some historians say that Serra, who was canonized by the Catholic Church, had a mixed history that included him acting as an agent of the Spanish Empire’s colonization efforts in the 18th Century.
Trump on Friday again lashed out against a “left-wing cultural revolution” that he says is teaching American children “that the men and women who built" the country "were not heroes, but that were villains.”
“The radical view of American history is a web of lies — all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition,” Trump said.
