WASHINGTON — During Thursday’s annual National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump highlighted an executive order he signed last week to resume the creation of a new national park with statues of “the greatest Americans who ever lived.”

The National Garden of American Heroes he envisions would include statues of the first U.S. president, George Washington, 1700s Puritan leader John Winthrop, First Baptist Church founder Roger Williams and the Rev. Billy Graham.

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to resume the creation of a National Garden of American Heroes

  • He made the announcement at a National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol

  • George Washington and the Rev. Billy Graham are among the people he would like to see honored with statues in the garden

  • Trump called on Congress to fully fund the project "at the first possible opportunity"

“The stories of legends like Washington, Winthrop and Williams remind us that without faith in God, there would be no American story. Every citizen should be proud of this exceptional heritage,” Trump said in a speech that frequently mentioned religion’s role in the country.

“Faith in God has always been the ultimate source of the strength that beats in the hearts of our nation,” he said. “We have to bring religion back.”

Trump first proposed the idea of a National Garden of American Heroes before the Fourth of July in 2020. In the final days of his first term, Trump signed an executive order to form a task force to build the garden, but incoming President Joe Biden rescinded it four months later.

No location was ever announced for the garden, and it had no funding from Congress.

The executive order celebrating America's 250th anniversary that Trump signed last week includes a directive to build the national garden as expeditiously as possible and to increase the total number of American heroes included in the project to 250.

On Thursday, he urged Congress to fully fund the project “at the first possibly opportunity,” adding, “It’s not going to be a lot of money.”

Some of the statues he mentioned Thursday already exist in the U.S. Capitol National Statuary Hall. 

“We have an unbelievable heritage, and we have to use that and make life better for everyone,” Trump said. “We’re going to be honoring our heroes, honoring the greatest people from our country."

During his speech, Trump reiterated a story he has frequently told since a would-be assassin attempted to take his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July — that he was saved by an act of God and that the incident strengthened his faith.