President Donald Trump announced that his eventual presidential library will most likely double as a hotel. This came after his son Eric Trump publicly shared architectural renderings of the project the day before. The design shows a massive skyscraper planned for Miami, Florida, that looks similar to New York’s One World Trade Center, and if built to scale, it would be larger than any existing presidential library.
Eric Trump first shared a two-minute video of the renderings on X, showing a tall building with his father’s last name and an American flag under a red, white, and blue spire. The video shows spaces inside the building, including a palm-tree-lined courtyard, replicas of the Oval Office and Rose Garden, a gilded ballroom, and an auditorium with a gold statue of Trump with his fist raised, mirroring his pose after surviving an assassination attempt in 2024.
When asked by reporters about the skyscraper, Trump confirmed it would serve more than one purpose. According to Mediaite, he said, “It’s a museum or a library. But I wouldn’t start it until I’m out of office. I don’t believe in building libraries or museums.” When asked if people would live in the building, Trump clarified, “No, it’s gonna be most likely a hotel. The concept could be office but it’s most likely gonna be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath.”
The project’s legal battles, financing questions, and land donation controversy reveal a complicated path to construction
Presidential libraries are traditionally built to store archival records of a presidency, but have grown into larger museums and campuses. They are usually funded through private donations to a former president’s foundation, and the facilities are then handed over to the federal government to be run by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
NARA currently oversees 16 such libraries, from President Herbert Hoover through President Joe Biden. Trump has said his building will “go up on time, on budget, best location in Miami,” and White House spokesperson Davis Ingle stated, “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.”
According to NPR, the architectural renderings are credited to Bermello Ajamil, a global architecture and engineering firm with offices in New York and Florida. Principal Willy Bermello said the building will “certainly be the most iconic and tallest US Presidential Library in the history of our country,” though specific details on timeline and cost have not been shared.
The planned site is a 2.6-acre plot of undeveloped land in Miami that Miami Dade College donated last year, located just south of the Freedom Tower and across from the Kaseya Center, Bayside Marketplace, and PortMiami. Not everyone is on board with Trump’s vision – some of those repulsed by Trump’s decisions after feeling betrayed have been vocal about their opposition to moves like this one.
The land transfer, however, faced significant opposition and legal challenges. The plot was previously used as an employee parking lot and was appraised at over $66 million. Activist and historian Marvin Dunn filed a lawsuit accusing the college of violating Florida’s Sunshine Laws by not properly informing residents before the initial September 2025 vote.
A Miami-Dade judge temporarily blocked the transfer, but after a second public vote in December, where over 100 members of the public attended, with most opposing the transfer, the trustees unanimously voted to proceed.
The judge later dismissed the lawsuit. Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz stated, “This court is not deciding whether this is wise, whether the transaction is appropriate for one president or another, or for a library, or for a petting zoo.”
Court records from February confirmed the state officially transferred the property to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation Inc. for $10, with the only condition being that “construction starts on a ‘Presidential library, museum, and/or center within five years.'”
Questions also remain about how the project is being financed. A nonprofit called the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund, Inc. was set up in December 2024 and received a $15 million donation from ABC News as part of a defamation lawsuit settlement, along with additional money from settlements with Meta, X, and Paramount.
However, the state dissolved this fund in September 2025 after it failed to file a mandatory annual report. A group of federal Democratic lawmakers, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and Representative Melanie Stansbury, estimate the fund may have held up to $63 million at the time.
They wrote to ABC, Meta, X, and Paramount requesting more information, noting, “The Fund is now gone, and the public has no clarity about the current location or purpose of the funds provided by ABC or any other source.” A similarly named foundation opened in May 2025 and currently owns the Miami property.
The library is not the only place where Trump’s name is being added to public assets. On the same day the renderings were shared, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing Palm Beach International Airport to be renamed after Trump, set to take effect in July. In January, a four-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach County was officially renamed “Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”
Trump’s name has also been added to the U.S. Institute of Peace building in Washington, D.C., and the Trump-appointed board of the Kennedy Center voted to rename it the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” a move that requires congressional approval and has already led to legal challenges. Critics who believe Trump is overstepping presidential authority argue that this pattern of renaming public institutions goes far beyond the traditional role of a sitting president.
Published: Apr 1, 2026 02:46 pm