The gift was reported by The New York Times, which included the gazebos among a series of high-profile gifts sent to Trump by foreign governments, alongside a luxury aircraft from Qatar and a pair of leopards from Saudi Arabia.
According to Katie Martin, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s director of communications, Mirziyoyev donated the traditional Uzbek structures and Trump accepted them on behalf of the American people. Visitors to West Potomac Park could be able to see the gazebos as early as late this autumn.
Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to the United States Furkat Sidikov also confirmed the gift, saying the two traditional Uzbek gazebos would become part of the planned park in Washington.
“Two traditional Uzbek gazebos, a gift from the President of Uzbekistan to the U.S. President and the American people, will symbolize our friendship and strategic partnership,” the ambassador wrote.
Photographs published by The New York Times and shared by the ambassador show that chandeliers are also planned for the interiors of the structures.
The National Garden of American Heroes project, however, remains at an early planning stage. Plans for the garden, including designs for individual statues, would generally require review by the National Capital Planning Commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court this week that the garden remains “still only a preliminary concept.”
The gazebos are therefore set to become one of the first visible Uzbek contributions to the planned development of West Potomac Park, bringing a distinctive example of traditional Uzbek craftsmanship to a prominent public space in the U.S. capital.
