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Donald Trump has long been fixated on Mount Rushmore. During his presidency, he reportedly asked South Dakota’s governor how he could get his face added to the monument. It’s not just about ego—Mount Rushmore represents the great men of American history, the architects of expansion and dominance. Trump sees himself in that lineage. This isn’t international relations Realism. Trump doesn’t think in terms of balance-of-power theory or grand strategy. His approach is more aligned with Thomas Carlyle’s Great Man Theory—that history is shaped by powerful individuals, not systems. His driving question is not just what America will become but how he will be remembered. The Mount Rushmore Presidents and the early expansion of the Empire Each president on Mount Rushmore played a key role in American territorial expansion. Their legacies are built on conquest, land acquisitions, and wars that reshaped the country’s boundaries. But with each expansion came significant opposition—both domestic and international. George Washington (1789–1797) – The First Expansionist Expansion: Washington oversaw the first organised efforts to expand U.S. territory beyond the original 13 colonies. His presidency set the foundation for westward expansion, primarily through treaties and military force against Native American tribes Opposition: Many within the fledgling United States opposed Washington’s handling of indigenous lands. The Treaty of Greenville (1795), which took land from Native American tribes in the Ohio Valley, was seen as both necessary and brutal. Many Americans, especially Quakers and religious groups, joined the chorus of criticism from Indigenous groups, such as the Shawnee and their leader Tecumseh.
Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) – The Louisiana Purchase and Westward Push Expansion: In 1803, Jefferson doubled the size of the U.S. with the Louisiana Purchase, acquiring 828,000 square miles from France. This deal secured U.S. control over the Mississippi River and paved the way for expansion westward. Opposition: Federalists fiercely opposed the purchase, arguing that it was unconstitutional and too costly. Some feared that adding new western lands would weaken the political power of the established eastern states. Additionally, Native American tribes living in the newly acquired land had no say in the transaction and faced increasing displacement.
Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909) – The Birth of the American Empire The Panama Canal acquisition (1903), a major geopolitical move to secure control of global shipping. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904), which justified U.S. intervention in Latin America to protect economic interests. The annexation of Hawaii (1898, just before his presidency), as part of America’s push into the Pacific. Opposition: Anti-imperialists, including Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie, vehemently opposed U.S. expansionism, arguing that America was betraying its founding principles by acting as an empire. The U.S. takeover of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War led to the brutal Philippine-American War, with over 200,000 Filipino deaths—a stain on Roosevelt’s legacy.
Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) – Preserving and Expanding the Union Expansion: While best known for leading the country through the Civil War, Lincoln also played a crucial role in expansion by signing the Homestead Act (1862), which gave settlers land in the west, accelerating the displacement of indigenous peoples. He also approved the transcontinental railroad, linking east and west. Opposition: The Homestead Act was opposed by many Southern leaders, who feared it would expand free states and strengthen the anti-slavery movement. Additionally, many Native American tribes saw it as a direct attack on their way of life.
Trump’s Place in This Legacy Trump isn’t the first American leader to push for expansion—he simply drops the pretense of morality. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt all justified expansion in ideological terms—Manifest Destiny, progress, national unity. Successive Cold War presidents framed their actions as part of an ideological battle of American good vs the evil empire of the Soviet Union. George W. Bush used 9/11 and the war on terror as the pretext to launch regime change wars to secure oil reserves in the Middle East. Conversely, Trump embraces empire-building in its rawest form, loudly and without pretext or subterfuge. He aims to secure trade routes, resources, and economic power. Like his predecessors, Trump faces opposition. But unlike the past, where expansionist policies sparked ideological debates, today’s pushback is fragmented—some warn of economic consequences, others criticise human rights violations and norm destruction, but few seem to recognise and appreciate and challenge the underlying logic of the American Empire building.
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