Trump tours new Roosevelt library before July 4 opening
The $450 million North Dakota library opens as the U.S. marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
President Donald Trump visited Medora, North Dakota, on Wednesday to tour the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library ahead of its public opening during July Fourth celebrations, the Associated Press reported. The trip put a national spotlight on a $450 million project devoted to the 26th president in the Badlands region that shaped Roosevelt’s views on conservation.
Trump toured the 96,000-square-foot facility and later spoke at the Burning Hills Amphitheater, where he praised Roosevelt as a forceful leader and outdoorsman. “He had a freakin’ wild life,” Trump told the audience, according to the AP. “He didn’t want to be quiet. He wanted to be great.”
The library’s official opening is set for Saturday, timed with events marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the AP reported. During the visit, Trump announced $750,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support the library’s first year.
Trump made the trip on a new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 given to the United States by Qatar, according to the AP. The visit also highlighted Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the former North Dakota governor who backed the library while leading the state.
Roosevelt’s Badlands years
Roosevelt first went to Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison, according to the AP. After his mother and wife died on the same day in New York in 1884, he returned west, where he ranched cattle and hunted during visits mostly between 1884 and 1887.
Those years became central to Roosevelt’s political identity. The AP reported that Roosevelt later said he would not have become president without his North Dakota experiences, which included pursuing boat thieves down a river and working among cowboys who mocked his eyeglasses.
The library sits near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where visitors can see Badlands terrain, bison and wild horses, the AP reported. The museum will cover Roosevelt’s conservation views, his Rough Riders regiment in the Spanish-American War and parts of his record that library leaders say require scrutiny.
Robbie Lauf, the library’s executive director, told the AP that exhibits will address Roosevelt’s “horrific comments” about Native Americans and other views that have aged badly. He said Trump was the library’s first official visitor and that all living presidents were invited to the opening.
Funding and politics
Burgum promoted the library to North Dakota’s Republican-led Legislature in 2019, arguing it could draw tourism, the AP reported. Lawmakers approved a $50 million operations endowment that required organizers to raise $100 million privately, a target reached in 2020.
Private donations totaled about $354 million as of early 2026, according to the AP. Donors include oil executive Harold Hamm, members of the Walton family, Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth Griffin, and Burgum.
The Dakota Resource Council hosted conservation leaders Tuesday who criticized Trump and Burgum, saying their policies conflict with Roosevelt’s conservation legacy, the AP reported. The critics cited staff and budget cuts and a push for energy development on public lands.
Burgum signed an order last year prioritizing public access to parks during workforce cuts, the AP reported. He has described public lands and natural resources as assets that should be responsibly developed to support energy dominance.
Trump is scheduled to visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday for Independence Day fireworks, according to the AP.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.