The Great Trump Library Robbery
A Trump family grift, a money switcheroo, a sleazy land grab, and shitty AI architecture all rolled into one.
Programming note: We’re going live tonight on Substack and YouTube after the Trump Iran speech at 9 p.m. EDT. I’ll be joined by Sam and Gen. Hertling. We’ll email you as we go live but the link will also be at the top of the Bulwark homepage. As always, you can catch the replay after the fact.
I understand that serious things are happening in the world. The AI-slop renderings of his future presidential library are not serious and the corruption at the heart of Trump’s “library” is small-scale relative to the billions he’s made from his office.
But I need this. So let’s go HAM on the Trump Library, Hotel, and Resort.
Warning: This one goes to 4.
1. Fluff
Earlier this week Eric Trump released an AI-generated sizzle reel unveiling the . . . plan? . . . concept? . . . concepts of a plan? . . . for the forthcoming Donald J. Trump Presidential Library and Museum.
The rendering is here.
We’ll make fun of it eventually. But first it’s important to understand that this building isn’t about scholarship or history.
It’s about the money. Trump is using the pretense of a presidential “library” to shake down various people and entities so that he can build a hotel and events space to make money for his family. It’s a story about shakedowns, featuring the Ellison boys, a $10 parcel of land, and even our ol’ buddy Meatball Ron.
But let’s start with the first rule of real estate: location, location, location.