The Trump Organization is developing Trump's presidential library
The Trump Organization is developing Trump's presidential library
- Tue, Jun 9 2026 at 3:03 PM
Mark,
The Trump family stands to profit from the development of Trump’s presidential library, which adds yet another avenue for influence-seeking and corruption.
According to a post on X from Eric Trump, the Trump Organization is apparently involved in developing the Trump presidential library.
Eric Trump is both executive vice president at the Trump Organization—the company that Trump still owns and profits from—AND a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, which is registered as a nonprofit in Florida.
His involvement in the charity, while he and his family appear to be poised to profit from its development, raises legal concerns. It also adds to a growing list of questions about the library’s function and funding, which is coming from corporations and other wealthy donors seeking to enter and remain in the Trump administration’s good graces, but that’s far from the only concern.All presidential library foundations are subject to the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits the foundation from being used to benefit “any person having a personal and private interest in the organization’s activities.”
Presidential libraries are also subject to the Presidential Libraries Act, which mandates congressional approval of funding before construction can start and limits the size of presidential libraries to 70,000 square feet.
A 47-story skyscraper would likely exceed that guideline, meaning the foundation would need substantial private funding.
According to a document filed with the IRS, the foundation is planning to raise nearly a billion dollars.
This funding is coming from companies like Meta, ABC News, X and Paramount, who reportedly pledged multimillion-dollar contributions to the library to settle lawsuits that Trump brought against the companies, seeking as much as $63 million.
There are also questions about the library's purpose.
Presidential libraries traditionally house archival records of the presidency, which the National Archives makes public five years after the president leaves office, as mandated in the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
However, the Trump administration recently stopped complying with the PRA, reversing course only after CREW sued and won.
As if we needed more reasons to be concerned about the library, Trump’s plan to accept a jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One and then showcase it in the building could violate the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause.
The plan to use a company Trump profits from to build a library funded by a charity run by the same son who runs that company to display a Qatari jet—instead of records legally required to be preserved—is an ethics disaster.
Comments
Post a Comment