A life-sized bronze sculpture of Thomas Jefferson, seated, 450 pounds, and valued at $150,000, has been shipped to the White House and arrived Monday for off-campus security screening, the New York Post reported. The third president of the United States is heading back to the house he left in 1809.
Sculptor George Lundeen, 77, created the piece roughly 25 years ago. Filmmaker Steven C. Barber arranged the donation and said President Trump intends to place it in the Rose Garden as part of a growing "walk of fame" that already includes a George Washington sculpture and a framed image of President Biden's auto pen.
The White House declined to confirm the statue's final destination, and no Rose Garden installation events were scheduled for the July 4th weekend. But the timing is hard to miss: the nation's 250th celebration of the Declaration of Independence falls on Saturday, and Jefferson was its primary author.
Barber, who previously helped facilitate sculptures honoring the Apollo 11 astronauts and other historic figures, organized the donation by Lundeen and his brother Mark, a fellow sculptor. Barber did not hide his enthusiasm.
"He's going to put it in the frigging Rose Garden!"
Barber described the Jefferson piece in physical terms: "He's sitting down. He's life-sized. It's 450 points. It's fabulous." He also praised the Lundeen brothers' broader body of work.
"George Lundeen is the greatest artist in this country... George and his brother [fellow sculptor Mark], just have this magical... there's just something about them. They're the best."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled the original Jefferson sculpture last year at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Monticello, Florida. Whether the White House piece is the same physical statue or a separate cast was not clarified.
Lundeen already has a connection to the current president. A defiant bronze of Trump, also sculpted by Lundeen, stands at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Jefferson was no stranger to renovating the executive mansion. During his two terms, he tore down the outdoor privy and installed indoor water closets, a practical upgrade that must have been popular with the staff. He added a wine cellar constructed west of the house and put in a call system for summoning servants. He was, by all surviving accounts, obsessed with design and construction, a trait he poured into his Monticello home as well.
The man who drafted the Declaration of Independence, edited by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin before the Continental Congress adopted it, died on July 4, 1826, at age 83. That he would return to the White House grounds in bronze form on the eve of the nation's semiquincentennial carries a certain symmetry.
The administration's interest in reshaping the White House grounds and Washington's public spaces extends well beyond a single statue. New renderings of a proposed triumphal arch in Washington have drawn attention to the broader vision for federal landmarks under this presidency.
The Rose Garden itself is undergoing change. Just The News reported that grass in the Rose Garden is being replaced by concrete slabs better suited to support large public events, part of what the administration describes as the first meaningful White House upgrades of this century. Trump and private donors are covering most of the renovation costs, with Trump donating his first paycheck to the White House Historical Association for the project.
The most ambitious piece of the overhaul is a new 90,000-square-foot state ballroom, nearly double the size of the White House itself. AP News reported that the $250 million project is claimed to be privately funded, with $22 million coming from YouTube as part of a 2021 lawsuit settlement. Construction began with demolition of the East Wing facade.
Trump addressed the ballroom project directly: "It won't interfere with the current building. It will be near it but not touching it. And pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of." The administration has said no public money will be spent on the ballroom.
Presidential historian Craig Shirley offered a practical observation: "Future presidents who are Democrats are going to use the ballroom too."
Security around Washington's federal landmarks has also drawn fresh scrutiny. Interior Secretary Burgum recently revealed unreported threats at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, underscoring the challenges of protecting public spaces that double as symbols of national identity.
Several questions hang over the Jefferson statue's arrival. Trump has not publicly confirmed the Rose Garden placement himself, the claim rests on Barber's account and Lundeen's statements. The White House's refusal to confirm the location leaves room for the statue to end up elsewhere on the grounds, or for the timeline to shift.
It is also unclear whether the courthouse sculpture in Monticello, Florida, remains in place or whether Lundeen shipped that same piece north. The donation was organized by Barber and attributed to the sculptors, but the precise mechanics, who owns the piece now, under what terms, were not spelled out.
None of that changes the central fact: a seated Thomas Jefferson, cast in bronze by one of the country's most accomplished figurative sculptors, has cleared security and sits somewhere near the White House, waiting for a home.
A president who builds things decided the People's House needed more of the man who wrote the document it exists to defend. There are worse instincts in a leader.
