Trump sees connection to ‘great man’ Theodore Roosevelt in opening of lavish library | Donald Trump

The sound of the YMCA by the Village People booming in the North Dakota badlands could only mean one thing: Donald Trump’s 250th birthday traveling circus had reached a remote corner of America more familiar with bison, wild horses and bighorn sheep.

The U.S. president visited Medora on Wednesday to dedicate a $450 million library and museum to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, in the area where he roamed as a cowboy and big-game hunter in the 1880s.

In what critics saw as his latest attempt to wrap himself in the mantle of history’s great men, Trump delivered a speech that drew comparisons to Roosevelt, whose face is etched into Mount Rushmore in neighboring South Dakota, but said notably little about his predecessor’s environmental legacy.

Even by the haphazard standards of America250 events thus far, Wednesday’s extravaganza was bizarre. Trump’s trip marked the debut of a refurbished Boeing 747 donated by Qatar that will serve as Air Force One, with a red, white, dark blue and gold paint scheme selected by the president.

Against a spectacular landscape of eroded hills, deep ravines and layers of rock, Trump then imitated Roosevelt’s guided tours by taking a short trip on a train painted red, white and blue with banners and the words “Liberty,” “Liberty” and “1776-2026.”

The train stopped at a railroad crossing with horns and bells blaring as a crowd, who had waited in the sun for three hours with a Roosevelt impersonator, chanted “Go, Trump!” and “USA! USA!” Trump, who had previously shown little interest in railroads, landed at the same place as 24-year-old Roosevelt more than 140 years earlier.

His motorcade to the library was accompanied by horsemen dressed as Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders,” the nickname given to the military unit Roosevelt led on San Juan Hill in Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. A large trail of horse manure was left on the road.

Trump toured the new 96,000-square-foot library, which overlooks a national park named in Roosevelt’s honor because of the formative years he spent in the Badlands. He visited a room named for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum — a former governor of North Dakota — and his wife Kathryn, and conversed with a digitally animated version of Roosevelt.

Trump later recalled: “I had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt: ‘What did you think of the Panama Canal? Is that your greatest achievement? What do you think of the Democrats giving the Panama Canal for a dollar to Panama?'”

The president then appeared at the nearby Burning Hills Amphitheater against a backdrop of a Western setting normally used for a local musical, complete with an ersatz railroad station, a telegraph office, a stable, a blacksmith, a dance hall, an apothecary and the Rough Riders Hotel. There were 25 Rough Riders standing rigidly behind him. A giant white “Medora” sign loomed over the hill above.

Trump delivered a meandering, hour-long speech despite a faulty teleprompter, never taking a sip of water even as the audience sweated in the searing heat. “I honor Theodore Roosevelt, the man I have admired for a long time,” he said. “I don’t admire a lot of people, I have to tell you – not a lot of people.”

Trump at Burning Hills Amphitheater. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters

Trump announced that the National Endowment for the Humanities would grant the library $750,000 to support its first year. He praised the artistry, scholarship and technical skills on display in the museum before previewing his own presidential library: “We’re going to build a museum in Miami – they’ve given me a lot of ideas. »

Now in his second term, Trump seems increasingly concerned about his legacy and place in history. He has previously spoken admiringly of Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan; a large portrait of Reagan is prominently displayed in the Oval Office. On Wednesday, he cited Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower, the last president to ride the train Trump rode on.

But his main focus was Roosevelt, whose presidency fell midway between the Declaration of Independence and today. Like Trump, Roosevelt was a privileged New Yorker who would be accused of imperialism and warmongering and survive an assassination attempt.

The differences, however, are profound: Roosevelt, who was 42, remains the youngest person to become president; Trump, now 80, was the oldest ever elected. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize; This is not the case with Trump. Roosevelt, who preached “intense living,” might have taken a dim view of Trump’s diet of McDonald’s and Diet Coke.

And Roosevelt, who ran for a third term in the White House but was unsuccessful, once said: “Patriotism means standing with the country. It doesn’t mean standing with the president.”

Trump told his audience Wednesday that much of the conversation about Air Force One had revolved around Roosevelt and his larger-than-life adventures. “He had a really wild life,” he said. “He didn’t want to be quiet. He wanted to be great.”

He hailed Roosevelt as “a great man” and “a proud man,” insisting: “I’m a proud man, I’m proud of our country. I’m proud that two years ago we had a country that was the laughing stock of the whole world, and now we have the hottest, most respected country in the world.”

The Rough Riders stand during Trump’s speech. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters

Surrounded by his sons Don Jr. and Eric, the president also paid tribute to Roosevelt’s son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II. “His son was brave. It’s genetics, you know. It’s like the theory of racehorses. Fast horses.”

The nearby museum reports that Roosevelt, who served as president from 1901 to 1909, dismantled 44 trusts and protected 230 million acres of land. Trump and Burgum, who have sought to roll back protections for wildlife and public lands, have made little of Roosevelt’s conservation legacy.

Trump said: “He’s done amazing things – a lot of people will say the parks; people point to different elements of his success. Amazing. But he built the Panama Canal.”

It was officially a nonpartisan event, but there were familiar faces from Trump rallies such as MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and a familiar soundtrack including Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera and, of course, the Village People’s YMCA.

Kathleen Katz, 60, an inventory control specialist at an aircraft manufacturing company, wore a “Trump: Make America great Again 2024” cap. She said: “He’s the best president we’ve had so far. His second term is going very well. We’ve hit a few bumps in the road, but nothing we can’t overcome.”

When asked to compare him to Roosevelt, she replied, “I would say they are both very similar: love for our country and for Americans in general.” ” She insisted that Trump “looks after all the national parks.”

Chris Pawlik, 35, an Army veteran who works for a solar energy startup in Austin, Texas, wore a T-shirt with an image of Mount Rushmore doctored to include Trump’s face above the words: “Make History Again.”

He said: “Trump is similar to Teddy Roosevelt. It’s like big stick politics is how he sees himself as well. Teddy was a big environmental advocate. So am I. I also see the balance between energy and conservation at the same time. There are some things, like with the Keystone pipeline, there are a lot of different things where we can’t change everything in the next decade. You have to have a longer-term sustainable plan to get there.”

In 2019, while serving as governor of the state, Burgum championed the Roosevelt Library to North Dakota’s Republican-led legislature, which approved a $50 million appropriation for operations. Private donors include oil executive Harold Hamm, Walmart’s famous Waltons, Kenneth Griffin, founder and chief executive of the Citadel hedge fund, and Burgum himself.

Trump’s cavalcade of patriotic events continues Friday with an event at Mount Rushmore, then Saturday with a “Salute to America” ​​celebration on the National Mall in Washington with a 35-minute fireworks display over the Potomac River. Democrats are not impressed.

Brendan Boyle, a congressman whose district includes Independence Hall in Philadelphia, said Wednesday: “Donald Trump doesn’t have one-tenth of 1 percent of the charisma or courage of Teddy Roosevelt. On environmental issues, they were absolutely day and night. All Trump cares about is making fun of and naming things for himself. Trump is such a small character compared to a great, extraordinary character like Teddy Roosevelt.”

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