Mount Trumpmore? It's the president's 'dream,' Rep. Kristi Noem says

Michael Klinski | Argus Leader

Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump's ‘dream' is to be face on Mount Rushmore South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem claims President Trump's ultimate "dream" is to have his face on Mount Rushmore. Nathan Rousseau Smith has the story.

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story had the wrong newspaper name for where the editorial cartoon appeared. It was the Tulsa World.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A year before Donald Trump became president, an editorial cartoonist for the Tulsa World pictured Trump standing at the foot of Mount Rushmore, critiquing his fresh-carved likeness on the mountain alongside Abe Lincoln.

"Make me thinner and lose the other guys," the caricature of Trump says to a man in a hard hat. The cartoon served as a critique of Trump's perceived ego and sky-high ambitions.

But after President Trump was sworn in, he relayed his dream of actually being carved on the mountain, according to South Dakota Rep. Kristi Noem.

Noem said the two struck up a conversation in their first meeting at the Oval Office. (Watch in the video above.)

"He said, 'Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand,'" Noem said. "I shook his hand, and I said, 'Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.' And he goes, 'Do you know it's my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?'"

Noem thought he was joking.

"I started laughing," she said. "He wasn't laughing, so he was totally serious."

Noem, who is running for South Dakota Governor in the Republican primary in June, relayed the story to Vermillion native Mitchell Olson while the two were filming a segment for Olson's South Dakota edition of carpool karaoke.

A spokesperson for the White House didn't respond to an email asking to verify the story and whether or not Trump aims to be carved onto Mount Rushmore.

But during a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, last July, Trump hinted at his desire to be immortalized on the 77-year-old landmark.

"I'd ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore, but here's the problem: If I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake news media will say, 'He believes he should be on Mount Rushmore,'" he said.

"So I won't say it, OK? I won't say it."

And Twitter users quickly put their Photoshop skills to the test.

The problem is, as most South Dakotans already know, adding Trump, let alone any president, is not possible.

Maureen McGee-Ballinger, public information officer at Mount Rushmore, said workers are asked daily whether any president can be added. And for years, people have suggested Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, among others. A Facebook page — Make Room on Mount Rushmore — and website both advocate for Obama.

"There is no more carvable space up on the sculpture," McGee-Ballinger said. "When you are looking on the sculpture, it appears there might be some space on the left next to Washington or right next to Lincoln. You are either looking at the rock that is beyond the sculpture (on the right), which is an optical illusion, or on the left, that is not carvable."

A brief history lesson: Gutzon Borglum originally intended to put Thomas Jefferson first in the lineup. Washington had already been started in his current spot, but when work commenced on Jefferson, it was determined the rock wasn't usable. Washington remained, but Jefferson had to move.

Lincoln had to be relocated, as well, leaving behind another segment of worked rock. An inscription in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase was scrapped.

All that aside, McGee-Ballinger said, Mount Rushmore is "a work of art. You wouldn't change an artist's vision."

There is another option, though, as Noem jokingly suggested to Trump: “Come pick out a mountain.”

Follow Michael Klinski on Twitter: @michaelklinski