President Donald Trump’s life and presidency have been defined by ambition and scale, and his presidential library is shaping up to be no different.
Trump’s presidential library is likely to be the most expensive ever built. Tax documents obtained by the Washington Examiner show the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc. plans to raise almost $1 billion for construction and operations.
Former President Joe Biden, in comparison, is only trying to raise between $200 and $300 million for his own library in Delaware. Biden, who dropped his reelection bid in 2024 amid questions over his mental fitness for office, is reportedly struggling to raise money for the project.
Trump’s price tag doesn’t just dwarf Biden, it would eclipse every previous presidential library project. The total could climb further due to inflation and cost overruns. Former President Barack Obama’s library was expected to cost $300 million, but it has reportedly run to more than $850 million ahead of its expected opening in June.
Former President George W. Bush’s library, which opened in 2013, previously held the record as the most expensive. Bush raised $500 million total for the project, $250 million of which went to construction, while another $250 million went into operations costs and education programming. Former President Bill Clinton’s library, meanwhile, only cost about $165 million.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump’s presidential library reflects his impact on the country.
“President Trump is one of the most consequential and successful presidents in American history — a leader who has fought tirelessly to deliver for the forgotten men and women of this country and Make America Great Again,” Ingle said in a statement. “The Trump Presidential Library will be one of the most magnificent buildings in the world and a living testament to the indelible impact President Trump has made on America and its people.”
The first visual renderings of Trump’s library, which will be built in Miami, were released this week on X by Eric Trump, the president’s son.
Design plans for the building include a golden escalator reminiscent of the one Trump descended to launch his 2016 campaign, a replica of his Oval Office decor, and a ballroom similar in design of the one the president is constructing in the White House.
The complex is also expected to house the $400 million jet gifted to Trump by Qatar and feature a large auditorium with a golden statue of Trump, modeled after his raised-fist pose following the 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“This landmark on the water in Miami, Florida will stand as a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known,” Eric Trump, a trustee of the library foundation, wrote on X.
Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, told the Washington Examiner that while every president has to have a library, the design for Trump’s is a “symbol of wretched excess,” specifically noting the increase in gas prices due to the Iran war.
It’s not clear how tall or how many square feet the skyscraper-style building will be, but the video rendering shows the construction towering over its neighbors, including Miami’s Freedom Tower, where Cuban refugees were processed as they entered South Florida.
The largest presidential library is currently John F. Kennedy’s, which is 166,573 square feet. Lyndon Johnson’s is the second largest at 143,836 square feet.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he does not want construction to start until he leaves the White House, and floated the idea that some of the construction could include a hotel.
“It’s going to be most likely a hotel,” Trump said. “This concept could be office, but it’s most likely going to be a hotel with a building underneath and a 747, Air Force One in the lobby, which is going to be a trick.”
Foundation projects $1 billion in fundraising for library
Submitted last year, the foundation’s tax-exemption application shows it is planning to bring in $959 million from 2025 to 2027. The foundation said in its filing that it earned $50 million in 2025 and expects to earn $300 million in 2026 and $600 million in 2027 from “gifts, grants, and contributions.”
The foundation also expects to make a combined $9 million in gross investment income in 2026 and 2027.
But the tax filing also made it clear that the building is not expected to be finished for years, with phase one — site acquisition, design, fundraising, and construction — expected to take four to five years.
It’s not clear if the proposal submitted by Bermello Ajamil will be for the final construction of the Trump library.
Bermello Ajamil, a construction firm based in Miami owned by the Woolpert Company that is credited with the design for Trump’s library, declined to provide more details to the Washington Examiner about the project.
TRUMP REVEALS FIRST LOOK AT PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY IN MIAMI
“We are proud of our team’s work and appreciate the opportunity to participate in this historic project,” the company said in an email.
The project already faced some local scrutiny last year, as the land chosen to house Trump’s library was donated by Miami-Dade College, which used the land for a parking lot, to the state of Florida, which then donated it to the foundation.
