President Donald Trump teased big plans to celebrate America’s 250th birthday next year, plugging his National Garden of Heroes as a centerpiece of the festivities.
Trump, a real estate tycoon, has envisioned a national park filled with statues of great Americans since his first term in office.
He needs Congress to fund the project and, when he spoke to lawmakers at the Capitol Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast, put in a plug for his project, tying it to America’s big birthday.
‘We’re going to be honoring our heroes, honoring the greatest people from our country. We’re not going to be tearing down. We’re going to be building up,’ he said.
He even teased the lawmakers that he may add some of them to the park.
‘Some of you will be on that soon-to-be hallowed ground. Some of you,’ he said. ‘Let’s see. I can pick a few of you right now, by looking. Here’s a couple of you right now, I can see.’
The lawmakers burst into laughter as Trump scanned the room.
‘It will be something very special, and I hope that Congress will fully fund this wonderfully unifying project at the first possible opportunity,’ he added.
President Donald Trump spoke to both Democratic and Republican lawmakers at the National Prayer Breakfast in the Capitol
Trump signed an executive order last week calling for the garden is to be completed ‘as expeditiously as possible’ for the US’s semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026.
The president has said the garden will feature a range of Americans, including old favorites like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr.
But he’s added a selection of celebrities to the mix: basketball star Kobe Bryant, chef Julia Child, singer Whitney Houston and television host Alex Trebek.
Trump originally signed the order for the garden in his first term but that was overturned by Joe Biden in May 2021. Congress never set aside funds for the original garden project so would need to appropriate the money.
It’s estimated to cost $120 million and a possible location has not been determined.
Trump got personal at the National Prayer Breakfast, talking about his own faith journey, noting how last year’s assassination attempt ‘changed something in me.’
It was a rare moment of introspection from Trump, sprinkled with humor.
Trump noted that ‘God was watching me’ on July 13. 2024, when he was shot and wounded in his ear during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He had turned to the side at the last moment to point to a chart on a screen that showed the latest immigration numbers in the United States.
‘Immigration saved my life,’ Trump joked, before going on to talk about the bullet that whizzed by his head, striking his right ear.
‘It didn’t affect my hair. Can you believe it? It might have touched it, but not where it counts,’ he said as lawmakers laughed.
He then got serious.
‘But it’s still, honestly, it’s a very – it changed something in me. I feel even stronger. I believed in God but I feel much more strongly about it, something happened,’ he said.
It was an unusual moment for the president, who doesn’t publicly show off his faith.
President Donald Trump gave a rare moment of introspection about his faith
President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, after being shot at – he told lawmakers that ‘God was watching’ him
The National Prayer Breakfast is an annual event in the Capitol, where the president of the United States joins lawmakers from both parties for a morning of prayer and reflection.
The breakfast has been a tradition since 1953.
In his remarks at the annual event, Trump called for the return of religion, made a few jokes, and got personal about his faith. He also praised the memory of Billy Graham, mourned those lost in the DCA crash, called for a new air traffic control system and made an appeal for bipartisanship.
He noted ‘God was watching me’ on that day in Pennsylvania and added that the incident even changed his sons, Don Jr. and Eric.
‘God was watching me. The chances of me being here – my sons are shooters. They’re really good shooters, Don and Eric and they said, the chances of missing from that range with that gun are – Don equated it to a one foot putt,’ he said.
He then cracked a joke: ‘That’s pretty bad, two feet, I can see missing.’
He went on to say his eldest son Don ‘he gained some religion. He went up 25% and if you know him, that’s a lot. But he said there had to be somebody that saved you, and I think I know who it is.’
The president also referenced last week’s deadly air crash that resulted in the deaths of 67 people, tying it to his assassination attempt.
‘But that event, like the tragedy last week, should remind us all that we have to make the most out of every single day,’ he said.
He also called on lawmakers to fund a new air traffic control system for the country.
‘I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers, brand new,’ he said.
‘We have to get together and just as a single bill just pass, where we get the best control system.’
President Trump speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Statutory Hall
President Donald Trump talks to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., (left) and and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., (right) after he spoke to the National Prayer Breakfast
Trump started his speech by calling for the return of religion in the country.
‘We have to bring religion back,’ he said.
‘It’s one of the biggest problems that we’ve had over the last fairly long period of time. We have to bring it back,’ he said.
He also talked about his accomplishments as president in the past three weeks, saying ‘our country is starting to do very well again. It’s happening fast, little faster than people thought.’
He also shared his memories of the Rev. Billy Graham.
‘He was something,’ he noted. ‘My father used to take me to watch the Crusades. He would take me to Yankee Stadium. I remember so well. I remember it more than I remember any Yankee game. And I’ve seen a lot of Yankee games. Can you believe it? And Billy didn’t have a bat, so, you know, he’s pretty good. It was amazing.’
And he had his own message for the Republicans and Democrats listening to him.
‘Never give up. Never ever give up. You can’t,’ he said. ‘How about me? If I would have given up, I would not be here right now. Who the hell knows where I’d be? It might not be a good place. If it was up to the Democrats. It would not be a good place at all. Never ever give up.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .