Exclusive | New Thomas Jefferson statue shipped to White House for latest Trump display
A full-size Thomas Jefferson is heading back to the White House he left in 1809.
George Lundeen, the same artist who sculpted a defiant bronze of Trump that stands at the president’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, says he recently shipped a seated Thomas Jefferson to the building where the nation’s third president served two terms.
It arrived for off campus security checks Monday, The Post has learned.
Lundeen, 77, says he was told Trump wants it for the Rose Garden – where the president has already installed a George Washington sculpture and a picture of Biden’s auto pen as part of a “walk of fame.”
“He’s going to put it in the frigging Rose Garden!” said an elated Steven C. Barber, the filmmaker who arranged it after helping facilitate sculptures honoring the Apollo 11 astronauts and other historic figures.
The White House declined to confirm where the statue might go, and there were no Rose Garden installation events planned for the July 4th weekend. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 at the age of 83.
In the sculpture, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence — with edits by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin — is depicted toiling over his draft of the document. Its adoption by the Continental Congress is being honored at the nation’s 250th celebrations Saturday.
Jefferson is seated on a cement granite base at a portable writing desk he designed himself.
“He’s sitting down. He’s life-sized. It’s 450 points. It’s fabulous,” said Barber, who helped organize its donation of the statue valued at $150,000 by the sculptors.
“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,” he gushed.
Lundeen made it 25 years ago. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled the original at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Monticello, Fla. last year.
Jefferson’s return to a building adorned with likenesses of Lincoln and the Roosevelts may have special resonance for Trump, who has overseen an array of decorating changes, including tearing down the East Wing to make way for a ballroom.
Jefferson, who obsessed over the design and construction of his beloved Monticello home, oversaw numerous White House upgrades, including tearing down an outdoor privy to install a pair of indoor water closets.
He also installed a wine cellar constructed west of the house and installed a call system for summoning servants, according to the White House Historical Association – an upgrade the Diet Coke-ordering Trump could appreciate.
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