It is typically a second-term chore, and certainly, President Trump pushed it off during the reelection fight and the coronavirus battle.
But now that it appears Joe Biden will be moving into the White House, Trump’s team has to turn to funding the construction of the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.
Fundraising will be key, and the library, required by law, and its accompanying museum could cost $700 million or more. Former President Barack Obama’s library in Chicago is expected to cost $500 million, and former President George W. Bush’s library in Dallas cost $250 million.
Trump’s key fundraisers, however, said that they are not seeking money for the effort yet as they raise cash for ballot fights in several states.
Then, there is the location. Trump has said he is looking at several, including his own properties, but it is unclear if there is a final choice.
Libraries store the president’s records, photographs, electronic messages, and paperwork — a massive undertaking. The National Archives keeps them until the library opens. Presidents also include a museum where they display their legacy for the public to see.
At this stage of his one-term presidency, former President George H.W. Bush had already picked Texas A&M in College Station for his library and museum. He is the last president to lose reelection.
Purdue University’s Bert Chapman, who follows presidential libraries, said the president has a few choices. “It could be somewhere in the New York City area, or it’s possible it might be somewhere near the president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in South Florida, which would probably be more readily accessible to visitors and researchers than something in the New York City area,” he said.
While colleges and universities, typically linked to the libraries, are not clamoring for the Trump library, Republican New York City Councilman Joseph Borelli has urged the president to pick Staten Island. Trump won it in 2016 and carried 62% of the vote there in this month’s election.
Borelli said that he hasn’t heard from the White House on his recommendation.
And Chapman said, “There are lots of political, logistical, and financial factors that go into determining where presidential libraries are located. It’s perfectly possible Trump and his advisers have not thought about where to put a presidential library.”
