Lara Trump has come under fire after claiming the recently opened Obama Presidential Center was funded by taxpayer dollars. However, per the Chicago Sun-Times, the center was funded entirely through private donations, including $125 million from AirBnB co-founder Brian Chesky and $100 million from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“Yeah, the whole thing from start to finish has kind of been a disaster, right? It’s ugly to look at, it’s over budget, the taxpayers are footing the bill, apparently, for parts of this, and then they had to open the ceremony with this performative morality, virtue signal,” Trump said of the $850 million compound on Fox News.
“It’s, you know, when I think about what I would want a legacy as president to look like, I think about the Trump Presidential Library, which many people have probably seen the videos of,” she added. “It looks amazing, it’s going to be fantastic, down in Miami. Beautiful.”
Trump’s comments prompted outcry on social media, after the Obama Presidential Center opened to the public on Juneteenth following its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.
“Always lying. This family has a pathological lying problem,” wrote columnist Sophia Nelson.
“This man has been out of the office for 10 years and they are still hating on them. We all know why they are hating. 2026 is revealing which side you are on man,” another X user wrote in response to the clip.
In addition to Bezos and Chesky, other donors included Connie Ballmer, who also serves on the Obama Foundation board, the Hutchins Family Foundation, Michelle Yee and Reid Hoffman, the Gates Foundation, Sean and Alexandra Parker, and the family of Jessie Reid Taylor.
