Latest news with #LakotaSioux
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee Republican sends Burgum letter calling for Trump to be added to Mount Rushmore
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum this week to 'explore the addition' of President Trump's likeness to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, citing 'the scale and scope of recent achievements,' including the president's domestic policy megabill that Congress passed Thursday and his administration's ongoing border security efforts. 'The legacy of Mount Rushmore cannot remain frozen in stone; it must evolve to reflect the full arc of American history, including its most recent and transformative chapter,' Ogles wrote in a post about his proposal on the social platform X. The Department of Interior declined to comment on Ogles's expansion idea, but a spokesperson told The Hill the agency 'takes all correspondence from Congress seriously and carefully reviews each matter.' In a letter to Burgum on Thursday, Ogles urged the Interior Department to start a feasibility study covering technical, legal and cultural concerns with input from the public and experts. Mount Rushmore has been a source of contention for some Native American groups because it was built on sacred Lakota Sioux tribal land. About 2 million visitors flock to the national park each year. 'We understand that physical modifications to Mount Rushmore raise logistical and preservation questions, but this discussion should not be foreclosed based on past bureaucratic resistance or political discomfort,' Ogles wrote in his letter to Burgum. 'While meeting the logistical challenges may require engagement with state and/or tribunal officials, the national benefit of promptly recognizing President Trump's accomplishments in restoring American greatness makes doing so a priority, and the benefits of elevating the dignity and relevance of the site, thus increasing both its grandeur and its visitor traffic, will accrue to South Dakota, the Lakota Sioux and the broader area,' he added. The National Park Service (NPS) didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment, but an NPS official explained to The Black Hills Pioneer newspaper in 2020 that it would not be structurally possible to add another person to the massive mountain-side sculpture. 'The rock that surrounds the sculpted faces is not suitable for additional carving,' Mount Rushmore National Memorial Chief of Interpretation and Education Maureen McGee-Ballinger said at the time. NPS has had a longstanding partnership with a rock mechanics engineering firm (RESPEC) to continuously study the structural stability of the sculpture. 'RESPEC supports our long-held belief that no other rock near the sculpted faces is suitable for additional carving,' McGee-Ballinger told the local newspaper. 'RESPEC also believes that if additional work were undertaken it is possible that exposing new surfaces could result in creation of potential instabilities in the existing carving.' In addition to Ogles's appeal to Burgum, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has proposed legislation that would direct the secretary of the Interior to 'arrange for the carving' of Trump's image on Mount Rushmore. The legislation hasn't been brought up for a hearing. Trump told The Hill in a 2019 interview that he couldn't answer whether he thinks he should be added to the colossal carving, which was completed in 1941. 'If I answer that question, 'Yes,' I will end up with such bad publicity,' he said. However, his desire to have his face alongside former Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt has been previously revealed. Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, at the time running for South Dakota governor, recalled in a 2018 interview with a Coyote State newspaper that during her first meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, he told her it was his 'dream' to be immortalized on the monument someday. 'I started laughing,' Noem, at the time a Republican member of Congress, told the Argus Leader. 'He wasn't laughing, so he was totally serious.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Economic Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal: Will President's face get added to monument? See if it is a possibility or not
AP Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal is back in news. Mount Rushmore with the four presidents' faces is the center of new political debate over potential expansion. Then-President Donald Trump stands at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2020, near Keystone, S.D. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal has hogged the limelight again as a renewed political push has emerged to add a fifth face to Mount Rushmore, this time that of President Donald Trump. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) has formally requested that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum study the feasibility of the addition. However, experts and park officials continue to emphasize the structural and philosophical Ogles wrote a letter to Secretary Burgum urging the Department of the Interior to consider expanding the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. He pointed to Trump's domestic policy bill, which passed Congress on Thursday, and the administration's ongoing border security efforts. Ogles also posted his proposal on social media, writing that the monument should evolve to include recent moments in US history. Also Read: Big Beautiful Bill Passed: What's in Trump's megabill and when will it go into effect? These Republicans voted against it The Department of the Interior did not directly comment on the expansion proposal. A spokesperson said the agency reviews all correspondence from Congress seriously and thoroughly. The National Park Service, which manages Mount Rushmore, did not issue a fresh statement in response. In the past, NPS officials have stressed that the rock surrounding the current sculpture is unsuitable for new acknowledged the difficulties involved in modifying Mount Rushmore. He suggested a feasibility study involving the public and experts to address technical, legal, and cultural concerns. Mount Rushmore sits on sacred Lakota Sioux land, a source of ongoing dispute with Indigenous argued that recognizing Trump's accomplishments would increase the site's importance and visitor numbers, benefitting South Dakota and local officials and geologists have repeatedly warned that the monument cannot safely accommodate another face. Maureen McGee-Ballinger of the NPS stated in 2020 that no suitable rock remains near the sculpted area.A long-standing engineering partner, RESPEC, supports this view, saying any new carving could destabilize the existing engineer Paul Nelson said removing more material could harm the support of the monument, possibly risking structural damage. Also Read: Michael Madsen Net Worth: Actor's cause of death, financial success, movies list, iconic roles and career Mount Rushmore's original sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, made several changes to his design due to the rock's poor quality. Jefferson's first face had to be blasted away and moved. Roosevelt's face was carved in a narrow space near a crack, and Lincoln's face is held by the 1990s, scientists mapped over 140 fractures across the site, showing it is already fragile. Park rangers even angled Jefferson's gaze to avoid a Ogles, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has introduced legislation to begin carving Trump's face on the mountain. The bill has not yet received a past interviews, Trump expressed interest in being added to the monument. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem once said Trump told her it was his sculptor Borglum's granddaughter said the monument was not intended to celebrate individuals but ideals. Past suggestions to include other presidents were never acted on. What are the main reasons experts oppose adding Trump to Mount Rushmore? Experts say the rock is unstable. Carving more faces risks damage to the existing sculpture and could make the entire structure unsafe. Has anyone else supported adding Trump to Mount Rushmore? Yes, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna introduced a bill in January to carve Trump's face, but it has not advanced in Congress.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal: Will President's face get added to monument? See if it is a possibility or not
Ogles Cites Trump's Achievements Interior Department Response to Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal Live Events Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal Technical and Cultural Challenges Can Mount Rushmore Have More Faces? Mount Rushmore Rock's Poor Quality Trump Mount Rushmore Proposal Political Support and Resistance FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel has hogged the limelight again as a renewed political push has emerged to add a fifth face to Mount Rushmore, this time that of President Donald Trump. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) has formally requested that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum study the feasibility of the addition. However, experts and park officials continue to emphasize the structural and philosophical Ogles wrote a letter to Secretary Burgum urging the Department of the Interior to consider expanding the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. He pointed to Trump's domestic policy bill, which passed Congress on Thursday, and the administration's ongoing border security also posted his proposal on social media, writing that the monument should evolve to include recent moments in US Department of the Interior did not directly comment on the expansion proposal. A spokesperson said the agency reviews all correspondence from Congress seriously and thoroughly. The National Park Service, which manages Mount Rushmore, did not issue a fresh statement in the past, NPS officials have stressed that the rock surrounding the current sculpture is unsuitable for new acknowledged the difficulties involved in modifying Mount Rushmore. He suggested a feasibility study involving the public and experts to address technical, legal, and cultural concerns. Mount Rushmore sits on sacred Lakota Sioux land, a source of ongoing dispute with Indigenous argued that recognizing Trump's accomplishments would increase the site's importance and visitor numbers, benefitting South Dakota and local officials and geologists have repeatedly warned that the monument cannot safely accommodate another face. Maureen McGee-Ballinger of the NPS stated in 2020 that no suitable rock remains near the sculpted area.A long-standing engineering partner, RESPEC, supports this view, saying any new carving could destabilize the existing engineer Paul Nelson said removing more material could harm the support of the monument, possibly risking structural Rushmore's original sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, made several changes to his design due to the rock's poor quality. Jefferson's first face had to be blasted away and moved. Roosevelt's face was carved in a narrow space near a crack, and Lincoln's face is held by the 1990s, scientists mapped over 140 fractures across the site, showing it is already fragile. Park rangers even angled Jefferson's gaze to avoid a Ogles, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has introduced legislation to begin carving Trump's face on the mountain. The bill has not yet received a past interviews, Trump expressed interest in being added to the monument. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem once said Trump told her it was his sculptor Borglum's granddaughter said the monument was not intended to celebrate individuals but ideals. Past suggestions to include other presidents were never acted say the rock is unstable. Carving more faces risks damage to the existing sculpture and could make the entire structure Rep. Anna Paulina Luna introduced a bill in January to carve Trump's face, but it has not advanced in Congress.
The Hill
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Tennessee Republican sends Burgum letter calling for Trump to be added to Mount Rushmore
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum this week to 'explore the addition' of President Trump's likeness to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, citing 'the scale and scope of recent achievements,' including the president's domestic policy megabill that Congress passed Thursday and his administration's ongoing border security efforts. 'The legacy of Mount Rushmore cannot remain frozen in stone; it must evolve to reflect the full arc of American history, including its most recent and transformative chapter,' Ogles wrote in a post about his proposal on X. The Department of Interior declined to comment on Ogles's Mount Rushmore National Memorial expansion idea, but a spokesperson told The Hill that the agency 'takes all correspondence from Congress seriously and carefully reviews each matter.' In a letter to Burgum on Thursday, Ogles urged the Interior Department to start a feasibility study covering technical, legal and cultural concerns with input from the public and experts. Mount Rushmore has been a source of contention for some American Indian groups because it was built on sacred Lakota Sioux tribal land. About 2 million visitors flock to the national park each year. 'We understand that physical modifications to Mount Rushmore raise logistical and preservation questions, but this discussion should not be foreclosed based on past bureaucratic resistance or political discomfort,' Ogles wrote in his letter to Burgum. He added, 'While meeting the logistical challenges may require engagement with state and/or tribunal officials, the national benefit of promptly recognizing President Trump's accomplishments in restoring American greatness makes doing so a priority, and the benefits of elevating the dignity and relevance of the site, thus increasing both its grandeur and its visitor traffic, will accrue to South Dakota, the Lakota Sioux and the broader area.' The National Park Service (NPS) didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment, but an NPS official explained to The Black Hills Pioneer newspaper in 2020 that it would not be structurally possible to add another person to the massive mountain-side sculpture. 'The rock that surrounds the sculpted faces is not suitable for additional carving,' Mount Rushmore National Memorial Chief of Interpretation and Education Maureen McGee-Ballinger said at the time. NPS has had a longstanding partnership with a rock mechanics engineering firm (RESPEC) to continuously study the structural stability of the sculpture. 'RESPEC supports our long-held belief that no other rock near the sculpted faces is suitable for additional carving,' McGee-Ballinger told the local newspaper. 'RESPEC also believes that if additional work were undertaken it is possible that exposing new surfaces could result in creation of potential instabilities in the existing carving.' In addition to Ogles's appeal to Burgum, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has proposed legislation that would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 'arrange for the carving' of Trump's image on Mount Rushmore. The legislation hasn't been brought up for a hearing. Trump told The Hill in a 2019 interview that he couldn't answer whether he thinks he should be added to the colossal carving, which was completed in 1941. 'If I answer that question, 'Yes,' I will end up with such bad publicity,' he said. However, his desire to have his face alongside Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt has been previously revealed. Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, at the time running for South Dakota governor, recalled in a 2018 interview with a Coyote State newspaper that during her first meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, he told her it was his 'dream' to be immortalized on the monument someday. 'I started laughing,' Noem, at the time a Republican member of Congress, told the Argus Leader. 'He wasn't laughing, so he was totally serious.'
Business Insider
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
A complete timeline of Kevin Costner's controversies, from his messy divorce to a 'Horizon' lawsuit
Costner's career suffered in 1995 thanks to the critical and box-office disaster that was "Waterworld." Costner starred in, produced, and later took over directing duties for the postapocalyptic action film "Waterworld," which made headlines before its release thanks to its ballooning budget, which made it one of the expensive movies of its day. Production setbacks, on-set injuries (including one sustained by Costner himself), and a natural disaster that destroyed an important set all inflated the final cost to a then-record $175 million. When the film landed in theaters, the critical consensus was that it was also one of the worst movies ever made. Costner, who personally invested $22 million into the film, lost more than just money in the aftermath of the box office flop. His career took a downward turn that continued with the release of his second directorial effort, "The Postman," two years later in 1997. That film collected a handful of Razzies, including Worst Actor and Worst Director. Costner made an enemy of the Lakota Sioux following the release of "Dances With Wolves." "Dances With Wolves," Costner's 1990 Oscar-winning directorial debut, was praised for its attempt to portray Native American people and their culture more authentically than previous Western films. Costner also found himself embraced by the Lakota Sioux nation, whom he enlisted to fill out his cast of Native American characters. But five years after the film was released, the New York Times reported that the Lakota Sioux had felt "betrayed" by Costner after he put forward a proposal to build a casino, golf course, and resort on National Forest land in Deadwood, South Dakota, an area which they consider sacred. Costner and his brother and business partner, Dan Costner, offered to swap a 600-acre parcel of land 10 miles away for the land they were seeking, something the tribe resisted. While the Costners did acquire land in South Dakota to build their resort, it never materialized and the pair put the 1,000 acres of land on sale for $14 million in 2013. However, it's not completely in the past. Costner is still involved in a decadeslong legal battle with an artist whom he commissioned to create a bronze sculpture for the failed resort. Stephen Baldwin brought a lawsuit against Costner in 2012 and accused him of cheating him out of millions of dollars. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Costner was forced to defend himself in court against accusations that he cheated Stephen Baldwin out of millions of dollars. The federal lawsuit brought against Costner by Baldwin and his business partner, Spyridon C. Contogouris, claimed that Costner hid details of a lucrative deal with BP before they sold their stake in Costner's company that created centrifugal oil-water separators. Baldwin and Contogouris sought $17 million in damages, stating they could have made at least that much in the deal. After a two-week trial, the jury sided with Costner and they got nothing. Costner left "Yellowstone" before it ended following rumors of a behind-the-scenes feud with cocreator Taylor Sheridan. The behind-the-scenes drama of "Yellowstone" drew just as much attention as its on-screen action toward the end of its five-season run. After reports began to circulate in early 2023 that Costner had clashed with Taylor Sheridan, the "Yellowstone" showrunner, over shooting schedules, the Paramount Network announced in May 2023 that the series' fifth season would be its last. Before the final episodes — which promptly killed off Costner's character — began airing in late 2024, things got ugly in the press. It was alleged that Costner offered to spend only a week on set for the final episodes, while Costner claimed that Sheridan dragged his feet with the scripts, leaving him no option but to opt out. The Oscar winner even said at one point that he would "probably go to court" with the show's producers over his final paycheck, but as of 2025, that lawsuit hasn't materialized. The actor's messy legal separation from his second wife turned into tabloid fodder in 2023. Costner and Christine Baumgartner's divorce proceedings played out in the public eye throughout 2023, after Baumgartner filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences" after 18 years of marriage. The two battled it out in court over child support payments, their home, the terms of their prenup, and even household items like a Peloton and cutlery — and all of their disagreements were dissected by the public. The interest in their divorce was fueled by jabs made by their respective lawyers in filings: Baumgartner's lawyers cast doubts on whether Costner had been faithful during their marriage. Costner's camp claimed Baumgartner inflated her child support payment request to cover $188,000 worth of plastic surgery. The two appeared to be headed for a contentious trial until they reached an undisclosed settlement agreement in September 2023. Costner mortgaged his house to fund his first "Horizon" movie. It became one of the biggest box-office flops of 2024. Part of the reason Costner couldn't continue his commitments to "Yellowstone" toward the end of its run was because of production on his own Western film franchise, " Horizon," which was originally conceived as four feature-length films that would be released in the space of a year. However, following the first film's disappointing box office performance upon its release in June 2024, the scheduled release date of the second film was pushed back from August 2024. It still hasn't been released. To get "Horizon" made, Costner mortgaged his property in Santa Barbara and invested $38 million of his own money. Costner and his undisclosed financial backers are also covering the first film's marketing, which Variety estimated cost $30 million. The self-financing route was a huge gamble, and one that it appears Costner is still paying off. As it stands, "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1" has made $38 million at the global box office, meaning it hasn't yet made a profit. In May 2025, Costner and his "Horizon 2" producers were sued by a stunt performer who says she was made to perform an impromptu rape scene. In a lawsuit filed in California on Tuesday and viewed by Business Insider, Devyn LaBella accused the actor-director, the production companies behind his "Horizon" film series, and 10 additional unnamed individuals involved in producing "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2" of breach of contract and sexual harassment. In the suit, LaBella, who was the stunt double for actor Ella Hunt, said that she was made to perform in a "violent unscripted" rape scene without the required notice and consent and without a mandatory intimacy coordinator present. She also said it was an open set, allowing "anyone" to walk in and "observe the scene being performed." "I was left exposed, unprotected, and deeply betrayed by a system that promised safety and professionalism," LaBella told The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news Tuesday.
