2026年5月4日 美国东部时间下午6:52 / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：孙伦·瑟弗蒂（Sunlen Serfaty）
一张经过重新构想的东波托马克高尔夫球场效果图。
美国英雄国家花园基金会
唐纳德·特朗普总统的一位顶级筹款副手已被招募，为他的个人项目募集资金，该项目计划在华盛顿特区波托马克河畔一块黄金地段开发新高尔夫球场和雕塑花园。
梅雷迪思·奥罗克（Meredith O’Rourke）是一位资深共和党筹款人，特朗普曾指派她参与多项备受瞩目的个人项目，以期在首都的景观和文化上留下自己的印记。她在2024年大选期间担任总统的全国财务总监。
自特朗普就职以来，她曾负责监督其雄心勃勃的东翼宴会厅项目的捐款，并在幕后为肯尼迪中心和“自由250”筹款。“自由250”是特朗普政府为举办美国建国250周年联邦庆祝活动而设立的非营利组织。
如今，奥罗克正与一家新成立的非营利组织“美国英雄国家花园基金会”合作，为特朗普计划改造东波托马克公园的一处历史公共高尔夫球场及附近的西波托马克公园募集资金。美国政府已将西波托马克公园选定为雕塑花园的选址。
她的职责在周日提交给华盛顿特区地区法院的一份紧急法庭文件所附的筹款文件中被曝光。该筹款手册显示，该基金会仍在等待免税资格审批。
奥罗克的参与以及将高尔夫球场和雕塑花园项目捆绑在筹款活动中，凸显出特朗普似乎将这些项目列为优先事项。
奥罗克拒绝置评，并让CNN联系白宫。
白宫发言人戴维斯·英格尔（Davis Ingle）表示：“特朗普总统的美国英雄国家花园将建成，以彰显我国永恒卓越的壮丽风采。在美国具有历史意义的250周年庆典期间，特朗普总统将继续美化并彰显我们国家首都的风采。”
特朗普政府已为该花园拨款数百万美元——通过国家人文基金会获得3400万美元，从总统的大型政策法案中获得4000万美元。但据筹款手册显示，随着雕塑花园的规划范围扩大，且政府将接管特朗普想要重新开发地块上的公共高尔夫球场租约，新基金会将开始募集私人捐款。
根据周日提交给紧急法庭文件中的最新计划，并经CNN证实，特朗普原本设想建造250座雕像以庆祝美国建国250周年的美国英雄国家花园，如今新增了诸多设施，如一座露天剧场和多处喷泉。
该花园的首席设计师是迈克尔·柯蒂斯（Michael Curtis），他是全国公民艺术协会的联合创始人，团队成员还包括城市规划师迪鲁·塔达尼（Dhiru Thadani）、建筑师迈克尔·弗兰克（Michael Franck）、建筑师C·J·霍华德（CJ Howard）以及雕塑家布莱恩·克莱默（Brian Kramer）。
这张效果图展示了拟建的美国英雄国家花园。
美国英雄国家花园基金会
不过，CNN此前曾报道，熟悉该项目的消息人士称，7月4日的截止日期前不太可能完工任何雕像。花园的规划方案尚未提交给美术委员会和国家首都规划委员会——这两个政府机构是项目开工前必须获得审批的部门。全国范围内申请参与雕像制作的铸造厂和艺术家，其建造工作需要数月时间，至今未收到特朗普政府的任何消息。
就在为总统的华盛顿项目设立另一个筹款实体募集资金之际，法官们正在审理多起诉讼，指控这些项目缺乏透明度且无视法律程序。
周一在华盛顿特区地区法院就该紧急文件举行的听证会上，一家因政府接管高尔夫球场的计划而起诉政府的保护组织，将这家新基金会的筹款手册作为证据，证明政府正在无视环境法律推进项目。
安娜·雷耶斯（Ana Reyes）法官表示，她希望确认该筹款信息属实。她表示，司法部应开始收集内部通讯，以解释该信息的来源和涉及人员。
雷耶斯称，此类筹款承诺并非“一时兴起”，她怀疑了解东波托马克高尔夫球场计划的人与筹款人有过沟通。
“有人在推进此事，罗伯逊先生。我不知道具体是什么，我相信你也不清楚，”雷耶斯在对司法部律师发言时表示，同时表达了她的怀疑：白宫或相关机构确实有沟通，才促成了此次筹款承诺。
“当你寄出带有图片的筹款呼吁时，项目已经推进得相当深入了。”
此次听证会还凸显了人们的担忧：政府可能会先推平土地，再事后问责。
雷耶斯明确表示，她不希望在案件审理期间，原告或法院对场地的重大变更毫无准备。
“先行动，后道歉……这绝对行不通，”她说。
特朗普此前曾任命奥罗克担任国家公园基金会董事会成员，该基金会是国会授权的美国国家公园管理局筹款机构，“自由250”是其下属组织。
参议院民主党人曾多次试图审查奥罗克为特朗普开展的筹款活动。去年年底，参议院民主党人致信要求她提供其在宴会厅项目中所扮演角色的详细信息。今年早些时候，多名参议员致信白宫，要求进一步了解她在“协助”为白宫宴会厅项目和“自由250”筹款方面所发挥的作用。
CNN的派珀·哈德史贝斯-布莱克本（Piper Hudspeth-Blackburn）、蒂尔尼·斯尼德（Tierney Sneed）和凯特琳·波兰茨（Katelyn Polantz）对本文亦有贡献。
Top Trump fundraiser enlisted in new nonprofit for president’s sculpture garden and golf course as legal challenges abound
2026-05-04 6:52 PM ET / CNN
By Sunlen Serfaty
A rendering of a reimagined East Potomac Golf Course.
National Garden of American Heroes Foundation
One of President Donald Trump’s top fundraising lieutenants has been enlisted to solicit money for his personal endeavor to develop a new golf course and sculpture garden on a prime piece of land along the Potomac River in Washington, DC.
Meredith O’Rourke, a longtime GOP fundraiser whom Trump has dispatched for many of his high-profile personal pursuits in his quest to put his stamp on the capital city’s landscape and culture, was the president’s national finance director during the 2024 election.
Since Trump took office, she has overseen donations for his ambitious East Wing ballroom project and played behind-the-scenes roles in raising money for the Kennedy Center and Freedom 250, the nonprofit the administration set up to run federal programming for the nation’s birthday celebrations.
Now O’Rourke is working with a new nonprofit, the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation, to solicit funds for Trump’s planned revamp of a historic public golf course in East Potomac Park and the nearby West Potomac Park, which the administration has homed in on for the sculpture garden.
Her role was revealed in a fundraising document included as part of an emergency court filing to the DC District Court on Sunday. The foundation is still awaiting approval for its tax-exempt status, the brochure said.
The involvement of O’Rourke and the coupling of the golf course and sculpture garden projects in fundraising efforts highlights the priority Trump appears to be placing on the projects.
O’Rourke declined to comment and referred CNN to the White House.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said: “President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes will be built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism. President Trump continues to beautify and honor our Nation’s Capital during America’s historic semiquincentennial celebration.”
The Trump administration had already allocated millions for the garden — $34 million through funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and $40 million from the president’s massive policy bill. But the new foundation will solicit private donations as plans for the sculpture garden have expanded and the administration takes over the lease of the public golf course on the site Trump wants to redevelop, according to the fundraising brochure.
According to the latest plans, included in the emergency court filing Sunday and confirmed to CNN, the National Garden of American Heroes, which Trump had envisioned with 250 statues to celebrate America’s 250 years, now includes additional elements such as an amphitheater and numerous fountains.
The lead designer of the garden is Michael Curtis, a co-founder of the National Civic Art Society, along with a team composed of urban planner Dhiru Thadani, architect Michael Franck, architect CJ Howard and sculptor Brian Kramer.
This rendering shows the proposed National Garden of American Heroes.
National Garden of American Heroes Foundation
However, CNN has previously reported that sources close to the project say it is unlikely that any sculptures will be delivered by July 4, the deadline. Plans for the garden have not been submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts or the National Capital Planning Commission — two government agencies whose approval is needed before it can be built. Foundries and artists from across the country who applied to work on the sculptures, which would take months to build, haven’t heard from the Trump administration.
The creation of another fundraising entity to collect money for the president’s Washington projects comes as judges are hearing lawsuits challenging the pursuits over their lack of transparency and disregard for legal processes.
At a DC District Court hearing Monday over the emergency filing, a preservation organization suing the administration over its plans to take over the golf course cited the fundraising brochure from the new foundation as evidence the government is moving forward without regard for environmental laws.
Judge Ana Reyes indicated she wanted confirmation that the fundraising message was real. She said the Justice Department should start gathering internal communications that would explain where it came from and who was involved.
Reyes said that such a fundraising pledge would not have been sent on a “whim” and that she suspected someone with knowledge about the plans for the East Potomac golf course would have been in communication the fundraiser.
“Something is happening, Mr. Robertson. I don’t know what it is, I trust you don’t know what it is,” Reyes said, addressing the DOJ’s lawyer while airing her suspicions that there was communication from the White House or the agency that prompted the fundraising pledge.
“When you have a pledge going out with pictures asking people for money, we are pretty far down the road.”
The hearing also underscored concerns that the administration will bulldoze first and ask questions later.
Reyes made clear that she didn’t want the plaintiffs or the court to be caught off guard by major changes to the grounds while the case is pending.
“Act first and ask for forgiveness later … that’s not going to be acceptable,” she said.
Trump previously appointed O’Rourke to serve on the board of the National Park Foundation, which is the congressionally authorized fundraising arm of the National Park Service and of which Freedom 250 is a subsidiary.
Senate Democrats have attempted to scrutinize her fundraising activities for Trump several times. In a letter late last year, Senate Democrats asked that she provide details on her role in the ballroom project. Earlier this year, several senators wrote to the White House demanding to know more about her role in “facilitating” collecting funds for both the White House ballroom project and Freedom 250.
CNN’s Piper Hudspeth-Blackburn, Tierney Sneed and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
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