Trump's New Library and Museum Mock-Up Raises Eyebrows With Absence of Actual Books and Towering Design

The first public glimpse of Donald Trump's planned presidential library shows a gold-laden Miami skyscraper with fighter jets, a gilded escalator and a towering statue of the president — but, notably, no books.

On 30 March 2026, Eric Trump shared an AI-generated video on X revealing rendered images of the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, a proposed high-rise on the Miami waterfront designed by local architecture firm Bermello Ajamil.

The nearly two-minute clip shows a skyscraper bearing the Trump name near its summit, an American flag antenna, and an interior stuffed with presidential iconography. The unveiling came against a backdrop of unresolved litigation over the land it would occupy and mounting questions about where tens of millions of dollars in settlement funds intended for the project have gone.

Inside the Renderings: Gold Escalators, a Colossal Statue and Presidential Aircraft

The video, credited to Bermello Ajamil and shared alongside a link to the foundation's 'coming soon' website, opens with sweeping aerial footage of Miami before centring on a tower that bears a strong resemblance to Manhattan's One World Trade Center. Trump is reported to want the structure to stand 47 storeys tall, a nod to his position as the 47th US president, though no finalised plans have been confirmed.

Inside, visitors in the video are pictured riding a golden escalator, a deliberate echo of the one Trump descended at Trump Tower in June 2015 when he announced his first presidential campaign. A massive auditorium features a gold statue of the president with his fist raised, a reference to the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Separate exhibits replicate the gilded Oval Office, the Rose Garden, the 'Presidential Walk of Fame' on the West Colonnade and the ballroom Trump plans to build in place of the demolished East Wing of the White House.

Several aircraft are shown on display inside the facility, including Air Force One — a concept modelled loosely on the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Trump has also indicated that the £318 million ($400 million) Boeing 747-8 gifted to him by the Qatari government for use as Air Force One could eventually be parked in the library after he leaves office.

The Miami Land Deal That Triggered a Lawsuit and Two Public Votes

The library is proposed for a 2.63-acre waterfront parcel at 531 NE 2nd Avenue in downtown Miami, adjacent to the Freedom Tower, the historic building that served as a processing centre for Cubans fleeing communism in the 1960s. The site was previously owned by Miami Dade College, which had purchased it in 2004 for £19.7 million ($25 million) and held it as a parking lot, planning to use it for future campus expansion.

On 23 September 2025, the college's board of trustees voted to gift the land to the state of Florida in a meeting that listed only 'potential real estate transactions' in its public notice, with no mention of Trump or the library. Minutes after the vote, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on X that the land would become the site of Trump's presidential library. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the full Florida Cabinet then voted to transfer the parcel to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation.

Miami historian and activist Dr. Marvin Dunn filed a lawsuit in October 2025, alleging that the college violated Florida's Sunshine Laws by failing to give proper public notice. Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz issued a temporary injunction in November pausing the transfer.

A Bendixen and Amandi poll conducted at the time showed 74% of Miami-Dade residents believed the college should keep the land, with opposition including 59% of Republicans surveyed. The board held a second public meeting on 2 December 2025 and voted again unanimously to approve the transfer, arguing the earlier lawsuit was now moot.

NBC Miami reported in early 2026 that the foundation now formally owns the property, following a transfer to the state for a nominal £7.90 ($10) in January. The foundation has five years to begin construction or risk losing the land under the terms of the agreement.

Trump's presidential library, if it ever rises above its parking lot foundation, will be built on disputed land, financed by undisclosed funds and designed to look, above all else, exactly like a Trump building.