The Trump Organization just revealed that its next construction project will be the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library: a towering, gold-encrusted skyscraper, branded with Trump’s name, that will sit just south of Miami’s Freedom Tower. Inside, it will contain a re-creation of Trump’s proposed White House ballroom.
News of the development was shared via multiple March 30 social media posts from President Trump himself and his son Eric Trump, who serves as the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, Trump’s conglomerate of real estate developments, investments, and business ventures that has been operated by his children since 2017. The Trump Organization is spearheading the creation of Trump’s presidential library in collaboration with the architecture firm Bermello Ajamil, which already commands a major design presence in downtown Miami.
Trump’s so-called “library” will be the 17th official presidential library. Whereas nearly all other presidential libraries have taken their design cues from traditional libraries or museums, renderings of Trump’s library show a building that looks strikingly familiar to the Trump Organization’s existing portfolio of luxury residential properties.
Digital images of the development show a massive skyscraper featuring golden escalators, a golden statue of Trump, a giant presidential jet in the atrium, and a recreation of the White House ballroom. In a statement to Fast Company, Willy Bermello, a partner at Bermello Ajamil, implied that the library’s ballroom will match the scale of the 90,000-square-foot space planned at the White House.
It’s a bombastic design that seems purpose-built to literally dwarf all other presidential libraries in both scale and scope—and it enshrines the bigger-is-better design philosophy that’s come to define Trump’s second term in a gaudy show of glass and steel.
The history of the Presidential Library
The concept of a Presidential Library first emerged in 1939, when President Franklin Roosevelt donated his personal presidential papers to the federal government, as well as part of his Hyde Park estate, to establish an official record of his time in office for the public to visit.
Since then, more than a dozen other presidents—including Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, and George W. Bush—have followed suit, establishing their own libraries to act as part-museum of their presidencies and part-archival collections of their own writings and relevant literature. Each library is overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which did not respond to Fast Company’s request for comment on whether it officially approved Trump’s upcoming library.
Historically, the buildings housing these libraries have featured one or two stories with enough room for exhibition space, activities, and archival storage. Jimmy Carter’s library, for example, is a relatively unassuming building on 35 acres of gardens; Herbert Hoover’s library resembles a slightly oversized suburban home; and, more recently, Bill Clinton’s library is housed in a relatively avant-garde, but still recognizably museum-esque, glass building. Barack Obama’s library, which is still under construction, is slated to be larger than existing libraries at a height of 225 feet to accommodate the nonprofit Obama Foundation.
Still, though, the Barack Obama Presidential Center will be nowhere near the proposed scale of the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, which, based on its renderings, appears to tower above the entirety of the surrounding Miami skyline.
And while Trump’s library seems to be embracing a few features that previous libraries have incorporated—like a life-sized recreation of his Oval Office—the highlights of the proposed skyscraper are several completely unprecedented design choices.
A golden statue, a giant jet, and a ballroom
Bermello Ajamil’s plans for the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library are, in a word, ambitious.
Per a statement from the firm, the library will be located on a three-acre site on the campus of Miami Dade College, sitting directly adjacent to two museums, the Miami Heat arena, and Port Miami. “This strategic downtown location basically guarantees that more visitors will visit this destination than any other in history—and its design will serve as a beacon to all cruise ships entering the Miami Harbor—‘Cruise Capital of the World,’” the statement reads.
Images of the proposed development show a massive, glass skyscraper emblazoned with the word “TRUMP” and topped with a large needle. It looks less like a library and more like Trump’s towers in New York and Chicago, which include restaurants, residences, and office space. So far, it’s unclear exactly what all the space in Trump’s library will be used for.
When visitors approach the building, they’ll first notice a whole lot of gold. Trump has shown his affinity for gold through the decor of his Oval Office, his custom phone, and multiple digital designs for his administration. In keeping with this penchant, his library will feature an entirely gold entryway and the golden signage, “Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.”
Looming above this entryway will be a large golden statue with its hand raised in the air. Willy Bermello, a partner at Bermello Ajamil, told Fast Company that the statue will be of Trump himself.
Once inside the library’s atrium, visitors will be greeted with a display of multiple presidential aircraft. One of these appears to be an official Air Force One plane. It’s possible that the specific plane in question is slated to be the $400 million super jet that the Qatari government offered to Trump as a gift.
Trump has previously expressed plans to turn the super jet into an Air Force One plane, and also said that he planned to use his library to take possession of the jet. Bermello did not confirm whether the plane in the renderings is imagined to be the Qatari aircraft.
The video introducing the library also shows recreations of the Oval Office and the Hall of Presidents. Perhaps the most outrageous element of the video, though, is a replica of the White House ballroom, connected to the library by a large pane of glass.
When asked if the ballroom would be a to-scale reproduction, Bermello responded, “All replicas—ballroom, Hall of Presidents, and Oval Office—will be exact replicas,” adding, “The video is very accurate to what the public will see on opening day.”
For reference, Trump’s ballroom—which doesn’t even exist yet, considering it’s still in the mock-up phase of development—is set to be 90,000-square-feet with 40-foot-tall ceilings. It’s unclear exactly how Bermello Ajamil plans to fit it within their proposed library.
In a statement to Fast Company, the firm wrote: “We are honored to have the distinct privilege and opportunity to design what will certainly be the most iconic and tallest U.S. presidential library in the history of our country.”