President Donald Trump on Mount Rushmore? Odds Give Slim Chance

Posted on: August 11, 2020, 12:02h. 

Last updated on: August 11, 2020, 07:39h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

President Donald Trump responded to media reports this week that his administration has reached out to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) about being added to Mount Rushmore.

Trump last month celebrated the country’s Independence Day by holding a rally below the historical monument in the Black Hills in Keystone, S.D. The National Memorial was sculpted between 1927 through 1941 by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln.

The 60-foot-tall sculpture features the heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Gutzon was who decided on including the four presidents. Trump says neither he nor anyone in his administration, reached out to South Dakota officials to recommend that he be the next face to don the mountain.

Trump shared a CNN tweet with a link to a New York Times report saying as such.

This is Fake News by the failing @nytimes & bad ratings @cnn. Never suggested it, although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!” Trump declared.

Overseas oddsmakers permitted to take such bets on novelty events has Trump commissioning his own face to be added to Mount Rushmore at a distant 100/1. That implies a chance of 0.99 percent. A $10 bet and Trump being cemented on the mountain would win $1,000.

A Mini Tribute, Instead

NYT reporters Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman say Trump indeed asked Noem whether it was possible to be included on Mount Rushmore. The media outlet claims the president called the governor regarding the matter. When he arrived last month, she presented him with a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore with the likeness of a fifth president: his.

The Argus Leader, a newspaper based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, says in 2018 then-candidate Noem revealed that it’s Trump’s dream to be on the mountain. During her meeting with him in the Oval Office that year, Noem says she was courted about the issue.

He said, ‘Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand,'” Noem stated. “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?'”

“I started laughing,” she continued. “He wasn’t laughing, so he was totally serious.”

Eying November 

While the Mount Rushmore fodder makes for entertaining headlines, Trump is focused on keeping his job, and the odds aren’t currently in his favor.

Biden is expected to soon announce his running mate. Susan Rice, the former United States ambassador to the UN and US national security advisor, has assumed a last-minute betting lead, her shares of assuming the VP pick trading at 42 cents. California Sen. Kamala Harris (D) is next at 41 cents.