Trump Shares Video of Proposed 47-Story Presidential Library in Miami

A concept video released by the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation depicts a 47-story glass skyscraper on a nearly 3-acre waterfront parcel in downtown Miami, complete with a Boeing 747 in the lobby, gold escalators, a golden presidential statue, and "TRUMP" in gold lettering stretched across the facade. Eric Trump posted the footage on X while President Donald Trump shared it on Truth Social, where he also included a link soliciting donations to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation Inc.

The money behind the project raises questions that extend well beyond construction permits. The foundation secured nonprofit status through what the Miami Herald described as an extraordinarily quick IRS approval process. Much of the public funding raised so far has come through high-profile settlements with media companies after Trump sued them. Tax filings show the foundation plans to raise nearly $1 billion over the next three years, while Trump is still in office. Presidential libraries occupy an unusual space in federal disclosure law: they are one of the few mechanisms by which a sitting president can legally solicit foreign donations without ever having to disclose the donors' identities.

The tower, designed by Miami-based architecture and engineering firm Bermello Ajamil, would dwarf every surrounding building in its Biscayne Boulevard renderings. The Freedom Tower, a landmark that served as a former refugee processing center for Cuban asylum seekers, appears roughly one-quarter the height of the proposed structure in the rendering. That demographic carried real electoral weight: Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade County helped Trump flip a historically Democratic stronghold in 2024.

Eric Trump, who described himself as the head of the library's foundation and said he had spent the past six months on the project alongside his team at the Trump Organization, posted a caption on X calling the building "a lasting testament to an amazing man, an amazing developer, and the greatest President our Nation has ever known."

The video itself drew scrutiny beyond its ambition. Multiple reports indicate it was apparently produced using an AI video generator, a detail that became hard to miss when on-screen text rendered the institution's name as "Donald J. Trump Presidential Lierary." The error did not appear to slow the project's momentum.

The nearly 3-acre parcel, valued at more than $67 million, was the subject of litigation last fall after a federal judge paused the transfer of the land from a local college to the state. The judge threw out the case in December and allowed the transfer to continue. The site sits near Trump National Doral.

Inside the tower, lower floors would house traditional library space, with hotel, office, and restaurant space rising above. Visitors would encounter a lobby showcasing a presidential-style aircraft: a Boeing 747 given to Trump by the Qatari government is set to be displayed once he leaves office. Replicas of the Oval Office, the Rose Garden, and the West Colonnade, framed as a "presidential walk of fame," would anchor the museum section. An amphitheater positions a golden statue of Trump as its focal point, and a presidential ballroom would occupy the footprint of what the renderings describe as the former East Wing.

Whether the final tower matches the AI-assisted visuals remains uncertain, but with a $67 million parcel secured, a Miami architecture firm under contract, and a nine-figure fundraising target already on file with the IRS, the financial infrastructure around it is already operational.