President Donald Trump offered to help develop the development of the Obama Presidential Center, which has been plagued by huge cost overruns and delays, a project’s embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that has recently attracted significant attention.
Trump has reshaped the city skyline with towering skyscrapers throughout his business career, linking Dei to the issue of a large Chicago project that costs from the initial $350 million to $830 million in 2021, with no new updated figures.
Trump tied with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney: "President Obama, President Obama, if he wants to help, I will help him because I'm a very good builder and I will be on time and on budget. He is building a library in Chicago. It's a disaster."
President Donald Trump offered to help build the development of the Obama Presidential Center on Tuesday, which has been plagued by huge cost overruns and delays. The project has diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg, left, Fox News Digital, Center, Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg by Getty Images, right.)
Obama Library starts with a lofty dei goal in a $40 million race lawsuit, which plagued costs
Trump talked about the Biden Administration's Bargaining Chip Act - by promoting experiences in domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing - and its DEI regulations at the Obama Presidential Center hub.
"(Obama) said something, 'I just want dei, I just want to wake up.' "He wants to wake people up to build it. Well, the people he was awakened, their costs were overspent. A job was stopped. I don't know, this is a disaster. I don't like this because it's not good for the president's position and something like this should happen. He has a library of disasters. ”
The 19.3-acre site is still under construction and will consist of a 225-foot-tall museum, digital library, conference facilities, gymnasium and regulations-sized NBA court.
From the outset, the project touted “ambitious goals” for certain building diversity quotas, with contracts allocated to “diversified suppliers”, of which 35% must be based on minority-based businesses (MBES).
A $40.75 million race lawsuit filed by minority contractors against structural engineers on the project has attracted attention from the project's DEI-driven aspects. Structural engineers claim that minority contractors lack sufficient qualifications and experience to perform their work, resulting in delays.
Trump said on Tuesday that Obama paid for prioritizing DEI over elite management.
"And he wants to be very politically correct, he doesn't use the good, tough, tough, mean construction workers I love Marco," Trump said.
Aerial shot from President Obama Center. (Fox News figures)
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"I love those construction workers, but he doesn't want construction workers. He wants people who have never done it, he has a disaster in his hands. Millions of dollars are over budget and I would love to help him or someone else I can recommend professionals, but not built in a professional way."
Emily Bittner, vice president of communications at the nonprofit Obama Foundation, said Trump’s remarks were not based on facts and the center itself was not involved in the lawsuit and had no deferred timeline, and the facility will open in 2026. The Obama Foundation oversees the development of the center and will be placed at the center when it is open.
“Everyone who sees the Obama Presidential Center is shocked by its beauty, scale and the way it becomes Chicago’s economic engine and a beacon of hope for the world,” Bitner told Fox News in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming all visitors to the 19.3-acre campus next spring to experience a presidential center that will not only respect Obama’s legacy, but also cancel the next generation of leaders.”
The Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to open in 2026 and is initially intended to open in 2021. (Fox News figures)
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Bitner said hundreds of workers every day proved the center’s progress, adding that the project was privately funded, not taxpayers.
The center’s library will be a digital library, rather than a physical library like other presidential libraries, which are federally funded and have scale limitations.
Obama's current presidential library is located at Hoffman Estate in northwest Chicago and is expected to move to University Park in Maryland later this year.