The Trump administration has reportedly investigated the possibility of having the US President's face added to Mount Rushmore - an iconic national memorial in South Dakota featuring the carved faces of four past presidents.
It's not possible to add a fifth face to the mountain, as the remaining rock isn't stable enough to support an additional etching, according to the National Park Service.
However, an article by The New York Times reports that the office of South Dakota's governor - Republican Kristi Noem - was contacted by a White House aide last year inquiring about the process for adding a face. The Times cited a Republican official as their source.
Noem claims Trump expressed his desire to have his face etched into the memorial during their first meeting in the oval office.
"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," Noem recounted to South Dakota's primary newspaper, the Argus Leader.
"He wasn't laughing, so he was totally serious."
The Republican governor, known to be a close ally of the President, decided to indulge his wishes by offering the next best thing - a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore with his face carved into it, The Times reported.
Noem greeted Trump with the model during his visit to the monument for an Independence Day speech on July 3.
Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18-metre) carved heads of presidents George Washington (incumbent from 1789 to 1787), Thomas Jefferson (1801 to 1809), Theodore Roosevelt (1901 to 1909) and Abraham Lincoln (1861 to 1865).
According to the National Park Service, the four presidents were picked to represent the United States' birth, growth, development and preservation respectively. The memorial is located in South Dakota's Black Hills region in the town of Keystone, and attracts around two million visitors annually.
Noem reportedly quipped to Trump that although adding his face to the monument is not possible, he could "pick out [another] mountain" to bear his likeness.
