President Donald Trump is considering the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) campus in Boca Raton as the site for his forthcoming presidential library, according to a new report.
The president and his advisers have chosen the site due to its proximity to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, and negotiations between Trump’s lawyers and the FAU over a 100-year lease at no cost are said to be currently ongoing, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump’s team is meanwhile planning a campaign to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the project’s construction.
Eric Trump, his wife Lara Trump, and the president’s son-in-law, Michael Boulos, married to Tiffany Trump, are reportedly leading the cash drive and have already established a non-profit to support the library.
Tens of millions of dollars in leftover inauguration funds, as well as more than $37 million recouped from lawsuits involving ABC News and Meta Platforms, will be allocated towards bankrolling the project, the Journal reports. Private donations from wealthy individuals and businesses are also likely to play a significant role.
The newspaper adds that Trump is hoping to install the controversial $400m luxury jet he was gifted by Qatar at the site as a tourist attraction once its years of service are over, taking inspiration from the housing of Ronald Reagan’s decommissioned Air Force One at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
“He redefined the presidency, so there is no question in my mind he will redefine the post-presidency, including what a modern presidential library looks like,” said historian Mark Updegrove, chief executive of the LBJ Foundation, looking ahead to Trump’s library.
The president could have pressed ahead with the construction of a library honoring his legacy at the conclusion of his first term in 2021, but decided against it after concluding it would signal the end of his political ambitions.
At the time, Trump was dreaming of mounting the spectacular comeback that few believed possible in the aftermath of the Capitol riot, but which duly came to pass.
Now, he is turning his attention towards building a “MAGA Mecca” to cement his legacy, which will host events and house memorabilia from his time in the White House, as well as official documents from his tenure pending negotiations with the National Archives and Records Administration.
The first American presidential library was opened by Franklin D Roosevelt in 1939, and there are currently 16, with Barack Obama’s in Chicago due to open to the public next year.
Plans have yet to be announced for one honoring Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, who is currently battling late-stage prostate cancer.