July 1, 2026:
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump will visit North Dakota on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) to see the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, a massive facility exploring the 26th president’s life, built in the rugged, lonely landscape where the young easterner built his conservation values while ranching and hunting in the 1880s.
The 96,000-square-foot library opens over the weekend on July 4, the pinnacle date of celebrations this year honoring the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But Trump is coming early to see the $450 million project, a push of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum from when he was governor of North Dakota, and bringing the official celebrations of the nation’s birth to a region synonymous with its westward expansion.
All living presidents were invited to the grand opening of the library, which joins more than a dozen such libraries throughout the country examining the lives and legacies of U.S. presidents from Ronald Reagan in California, to Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York to Herbert Hoover in Iowa. The Obama Presidential Center recently opened in Chicago, bringing together four former presidents for the occasion.
Trump will be the library’s first official visitor, Library Executive Director Robbie Lauf said, and will speak at a nearby Western-themed amphitheater at an event run by Freedom 250, the Trump-created group billed as nonpartisan that he has tapped to organize the festivities he will participate in this week. On Friday, Trump also plans to visit South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore for Independence Day fireworks, as he did in 2020.
The president has often praised, and even compared himself favorably, to Roosevelt, declaring in 2020 that he was, “The number one environmental president since Teddy Roosevelt.”
Trump began his second term by trumpeting construction of the Panama Canal during the Roosevelt administration. He even suggested that the U.S. might seek to take back the waterway from Panama to curb influence from China — though that’s a goal that was overshadowed by his suggestions that Washington might seize control of Greenland or that Canada could become America’s 51st state.
In the run-up to staging a UFC fight on the White House lawn for his 80th birthday, Trump said he was aware of Roosevelt holding far lower-key boxing matches in the White House — though he made no mention of Roosevelt having detached the retina of his left eye during one such sparring session.
The trip also underscores the president’s esteem for Burgum, who has become a key face of and cheerleader for the president’s expansive renovation projects around Washington.
Roosevelt was a New York native with a strong connection to North Dakota
Roosevelt visited Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. On Valentine’s Day the next year, his mother and wife died hours apart in the same house.
Devastated, the New York native came to Dakota where he ranched cattle and hunted big game in the West during visits mostly from 1884 to 1887.
He underwent deep personal growth from his experiences, including chasing boat thieves down a river, standing up to a bully in a bar and working alongside cowboys who ridiculed him for wearing eyeglasses.
Roosevelt, who served from 1901 to 1909, later said he never would have been president were it not for his experiences in North Dakota.
Near the library is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Visitors can hike trails and drive a scenic route through the colorful, rugged Badlands where bison and wild horses roam.
In 2019, Burgum championed the library to North Dakota’s Republican-led legislature when he was governor, touting its tourism potential. The legislature approved a $50 million operations endowment, requiring library planners to raise $100 million in private donations, a goal met in 2020. Donations total about $354 million as of early 2026.
Donors include oil executive Harold Hamm, the Waltons of Walmart fame, Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth Griffin and Burgum himself.
Burgum also has lobbied for Roosevelt’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, saying during an event previewing the Roosevelt library, “Keep your fingers crossed.”
That’s a nod to Roosevelt — who had become alarmed at the number of injuries and deaths of college football players — convening a 1905 White House meeting featuring the presidents of Harvard, Yale and Princeton to urge safety improvements in the sport. The discussions eventually helped sparked the founding of the NCAA, college’s sports governing body.
The library will showcase Roosevelt’s ideas and artifacts
Visitors will learn about Roosevelt’s conservation ideas and his Rough Riders regiment of the Spanish-American War, but also his “horrific comments” about Native Americans and other issues “that have obviously aged poorly,” Lauf said.
Artifacts, many of them out of public view for decades, will tell Roosevelt’s story. Visitors will see his Rough Riders uniform; the 1884 diary grieving his terrible loss; and the eyeglasses case, speech and shirt from the 1912 assassination attempt against him.
Organizers hope the library draws families and thousands of school children from the region, as well as some of the millions of motorists who travel to Yellowstone National Park and the Black Hills.
“It’s a feature, not a bug, that we are in a county of 1,000 people and a town of 120,” Lauf said. “TR came here for that purpose.”
The Dakota Resource Council on Tuesday hosted several conservation leaders who criticized Burgum and Trump for policies they say contradict Roosevelt’s conservation principles, such as cutting staff and budgets and prioritizing energy development on public lands.
Last year Burgum signed an order prioritizing the openness and accessibility of parks to the public amid the workforce cuts. He has compared America’s public lands and natural resources to “assets” that should be responsibly developed to exert “energy dominance.”
June 28, 2026:
The National Park Service is partnering with the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library to loan artifacts and interpretive materials from national park collections as the new library honoring America’s 26th president prepares to open on July 4, 2026, during the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
“Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership launched the American conservation movement and the National Park System we know today,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “By sharing these historic artifacts and stories, we are helping connect new generations to Roosevelt’s legacy during America’s 250th anniversary celebration.”
The loaned materials help connect visitors to Theodore Roosevelt’s remarkable journey—from his childhood in New York City, to his transformative years in the Badlands of North Dakota, to his leadership as president and champion of conservation. The cutting-edge library will sit at the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the only one of America’s 63 flagship National Parks named after a person. The loan inventory contains more than 50 significant artifacts, including:
- Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Rider uniform on loan from Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay, NY. This uniform was worn by Theodore Roosevelt during his service with the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, popularly known as the Rough Riders, during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
- Theodore Roosevelt’s Eyeglass Case and Campaign Speech on loan from Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York, NY. This eyeglass case and folded campaign speech were carried by Theodore Roosevelt during the assassination attempt in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912. The bullet passed through both objects before striking Roosevelt, helping to slow its impact and contributing to his survival.
- Theodore Roosevelt’s compass on loan from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND. For Theodore Roosevelt, a compass was more than an instrument of navigation. It represented his engagement with the natural world and his willingness to confront it directly, whether on the Dakota plains, in remote hunting grounds, or later on scientific expeditions abroad.
“We are honored to partner with the National Park Service to help tell Theodore Roosevelt’s story through authentic artifacts and shared educational experiences,” said Edward O’Keefe, chief executive officer of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. “This collaboration brings together the places that shaped Roosevelt’s life and legacy while inspiring visitors to embrace leadership, conservation and civic engagement in their own communities.”
To celebrate the library’s opening, these sites will host a series of special interpretive programs, ranger-led talks, family activities, and Junior Ranger opportunities throughout the summer of 2026. Programs will include:
- Special ranger programs exploring Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy and connection to the American West.
- Junior Ranger activities encouraging children and families to discover Roosevelt’s values of stewardship, service and exploration.
- Living history demonstrations and educational exhibits highlighting Roosevelt’s life from childhood through his presidency.
- Collaborative programming with the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library during opening events in Medora.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is a privately funded project at the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Its opening is a signature Freedom 250 event, commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence. Through partnerships, educational programming, and historic preservation, the NPS is helping Americans connect with the people, places and ideals that continue to shape our nation.
For more information about NPS programs and events, visit nps.gov.
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