With the National Park Service announcing it will be forced to cut down 300 trees including 158 Japanese cherry trees for a sea wall repair project on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, the prime minister of Japan announced his government will gift the United States a fresh set of 250 new cherry trees to celebrate the upcoming semiquincentennial of the nation in 2026, the Washington Post reports.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is currently visiting Washington and made the surprise announcement during a White House visit, saying he learned the trees would be removed and wanted to provide the trees as a show of friendship. Two thousand of the original cherry trees planted were gifts from the Japanese government during the Taft Administration. The trees to be removed include one lovingly known as Stumpy, the Charlie Brown Christmas tree of Tidal Basin cherry trees.