Historian Douglas Brinkley (Rice University) recalled a conversation he had with Donald Trump shortly after his 2016 presidential victory. Trump mused about having his name “carved” on Mt. Rushmore next to four of the nation’s most illustrious presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. The president told a surprised Brinkley that he never read a book about Abraham Lincoln. “He was thinking about what he would do for his inaugural address and said he knew nothing about history.”

Presidential biographer Jonathan Atler states that Trump “is not now and has never been a student of history, he’s ignorant of economic history, he’s ignorant of political history.” Atler states that Trump “operates on the politics of nostalgia,” a longing or sentimentality for the past as he believes it was.

An idealized past (that never occurred) will be on display when the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary next year. Atler writes that we don’t know how that celebration will unfold but there’s no doubt Trump will attempt to “hijack” the festivities, making sure he is the center of attention. The celebration will include life-size statues of 250 national figures who have contributed to the nation’s cultural, scientific and political heritage. How many of these statues will be of people of color and/or women? Will they be passed over in another DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) purge?

Johann Neem, a professor of history at Western Washington University, writes that the American Revolution was a rebellion “against tyranny and arbitrary power that Trump is wielding.” Anyone teaching about the Revolutionary War knows what the Founders most feared “is someone like Donald Trump — someone who would be lawless and have arbitrary power that’s not limited by the rule of law.”

Trump’s warped sense of history plays into the false narrative this nation was founded solely on the heroics of General Washington and valor of the Continental Army. Historian Lawrence Hatter notes that while Washington’s leadership and courage are beyond reproach, he could not have defeated the world’s foremost power without significant financial and military assistance from France (especially), Spain, Russia, the Netherlands and at least six other nations.

Hatter notes the Founders well understood they were at a significant disadvantage against the mighty British Empire from the war’s inception and changed the odds in their fight for independence by making alliances with foreign powers. “The American War of Independence,” Hatter writes, “was far from a solitary quest. It was instead, the ultimate repudiation of America First.” It takes “allies working together and being better for it.”

History professor Heather Cox Richardson (Boston College) writes the story of this nation is that of a multi-cultural society, “a story of extraordinary triumph, but also of missteps and tragedy … The idea that we had a perfect past that needs to be recovered is an ideology in service of an authoritarian in his attempt to destroy real history.”

Trump’s woeful ignorance of American history was on display during the 2024 election campaign. A 10-year-old boy asked him who his favorite president was when he was “little.” Trump replied that he “liked Ronald Reagan.” (Trump was 34 years old when Reagan became president, 42 at the end of his term). Trump said Lincoln was a great president – but could’ve been better if he’d “settled” the Civil War, cut a deal with the South (which would have kept slavery legal). “Great presidents? … Lincoln was probably a great president, although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that [slavery] settled? You know, I’m a guy that — it doesn’t make sense we had a Civil War … You’d almost say, like, why wasn’t that settled?”

Yale professor David Blight, a leading historian of the Civil War and Reconstruction, described Trump’s statement that slavery could have been negotiated and the Civil War prevented as “elementary school nonsense” and “historically ignorant.” Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer notes “the Civil War was not a result of the nation lacking smart dealmakers — it was a product of the poisonous slave-holding economy in the South.”

For Trump, historical accuracy (recall his statement that Washington’s army “took over the airports” from the British) and what’s best for the country, for all Americans, is irrelevant. It’s Trump first and foremost — at all times in every situation. Pitching his “digital trading cards” in December 2022, Trump said in a video: “This is Donald Trump, hopefully your favorite president of all time, better than Lincoln, better than Washington.”

The democracy-destroying egomaniac will be front and center June 14 (his birthday) as a military parade celebrates the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. The event will feature almost 7,000 soldiers, approximately 150 vehicles (including tanks) and 50 helicopters along a route from Arlington, Virginia to Washington D.C. The cost of the parade has been estimated at between $45 million and $100 million not including the substantial cost of repairing roads and streets shredded by tanks that weigh between 50,000 and 75,000 pounds.

Our five-time, draft-dodging Commander-in-Chief loves military parades although he has little if any regard for members of the armed forces and veterans — all “suckers and losers” for Trump. His administration is planning to cut 80,000 Veterans Administration jobs including Crisis Line workers. (In 2022 — latest data available — there were 17.6 veteran suicides per day.) Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among veterans under 45 years of age. How many of these tragedies are related to understaffed VA clinics wherein veterans have to wait for weeks — at times, months — to receive physical and often desperately needed mental health care?

Citing “President Trump’s bold leadership and steadfast dedication to America’s greatness,” in January, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (Republican from Florida) introduced legislation to add a stone carving of Trump — that “reflects his towering legacy” — to Mt. Rushmore alongside those of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

The only thing more absurd — and blasphemous — than Trump on Mt. Rushmore would be Satan sitting next to Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper.”

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George J. Bryjak lives in Bloomingdale and is retired after 24 years of teaching sociology at the University of San Diego. A list of sources accompanies this commentary online.

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Sources

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“Army confirms military parade for the 250th anniversary will be held on Trump’s birthday” (2025) May 3,The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com

“Breaking: Rep. Luna introduces legislation to carve President Trump on Mount Rushmore” January 25, Ann Paula Luna, https://luna.house.gov

Gupta, G. (2025) “Trump administration plans 15 percent cut to VA workforce,” March 5, The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com

Hatter, L. (2019) “How Trump’s airport gaffe masked a dangerous misunderstanding of the Revolutionary War,” July 12, The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com

Levin, B. (2024) “Trump suggests Abraham Lincoln should’ve let the South keep a little slavery,” October 8, Vanity Fair, www.vanityfair.com

O’Connor, J. (2024) “Altogether fitting and proper? Trump repeatedly compares himself to Abraham Lincoln,” October 26, AP News, www.apnews.com

Schuessler, J. (2025) “Trump Administration seeks artists for ‘Garden of Heroes’ Statues,” April 24, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com

Tait, R. (2025) “Historians alarmed as Trump seeks to rewrite U.S. story for 250th anniversary,” May 4, The Guardian, www.theguardian.com

“Trump birthday parade to cost eyewatering amount – and could get worse” (2025) May 7, The New Republic, www.newrepublic.com

“VA releases 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report” Veterans Administration, https://news.va.gov

Zeitz, J. (2024) “Trump says we should have negotiated around the Civil War. Here’s what would have happened,” October 1, Politico, www.politico.com

“5 reasons federal cuts are hitting veterans especially hard” (2025) March 16, PBS,www.pbs.org