Trump Administration wants to spend USD 40 million on marble statues for Garden of Heroes

The US Senate is expected to hold a final vote on a large-scale bill that includes a controversial provision: USD 40 million should go to purchase statues for the so-called National Garden of American Heroes, a project initiated by Donald Trump during his first term, ArtNews reports.

According to the document, the funds should be allocated from the budget of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEA) for 2025.

What is known about the project:

• The garden will feature 250 realistic (!) statues made of bronze, marble or granite, dedicated to "great Americans", including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Sacagawea, as well as unexpected figures such as Kobe Bryant (basketball player), Julia Child (host of a cooking TV show), Alex Trebek (TV host) and Hannah Arendt (founder of the theory of totalitarianism).
• Artists will be able to receive up to USD 200,000 for one statue.
• Modernism or abstraction is prohibited.

However, critics accuse the administration of financing the project with the help of canceled grants for cultural and educational initiatives - such as NEH Fellowships, which previously supported scientists in the United States. The bill also includes provisions to reduce Medicaid (a state health insurance program for low-income US citizens) and SNAP (a food assistance program formerly known as "food stamps"), tax breaks for the wealthiest, and increased funding for immigration services.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, these changes will lead to an increase in the deficit by USD 3.3 trillion over the next decade.

In 2025, the total budget of the NEA will be USD 210.1 million, and the NEH - USD 200.1 million. That is, almost a fifth of the NEH budget may go not to the development of the humanities, but to the monuments with which Trump wants to decorate the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Earlier, Trump said that he would consider the issue of the possible deportation of Elon Musk amid a dispute between the politician and the entrepreneur.

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