Donald Trump is stepping onto a mesa overlooking the Little Missouri River to cut the ribbon on the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. It’s part of his Freedom 250 tour, timed right before America’s 250th birthday. But the optics are messy.
You can’t ignore the contradiction. Here is a president who has spent much of his time in office dismantling environmental regulations, standing in the shadow of America’s original "conservation president." For another look, check out: this related article.
While TR protected roughly 230 million acres of public land, Trump and his Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, are going in the opposite direction. A recent analysis by the Center for American Progress reveals that the current administration has moved to strip protections from more than 86 million acres of public land. That is an area larger than 38 Yellowstone National Parks combined. The clash between TR’s ghost and Trump’s modern policy isn’t just awkward. It is a complete ideological disconnect.
The Trillion Dollar Badlands Showdown
The $450 million library project in Medora, North Dakota, was largely a passion project for Doug Burgum back when he was the state's governor. He secured a $50 million state endowment, which eventually brought in big corporate donors like oil billionaire Harold Hamm, Kenneth Griffin of Citadel, and the Walton family. Further analysis regarding this has been shared by The New York Times.
But local conservation groups aren’t cheering. Organizations like the Dakota Resource Council and Save Our Parks point out that just a mile away from the brand-new library sits the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Thanks to federal budget cuts from the current administration, that actual park is facing severe staffing and resource shortages.
“No photo op will change the damage Trump and Burgum are doing to the wildlife, lands, and parks Roosevelt fought to protect,” says Jayson O’Neill, a spokesperson for Save Our Parks.
The policy rollbacks are massive and specific. Under Burgum’s leadership at the Interior Department, the administration has systematically weakened safeguards within the Endangered Species Act, rolled back protections for migratory birds, and opened vast stretches of federal waters and national forests to corporate development. Untouched wilderness areas, from Alaska's oil-rich habitats to Minnesota's Boundary Waters, are now vulnerable to industrial contamination and commercial drilling.
What Teddy Roosevelt Actually Left Behind
To understand why this ribbon-cutting feels so bizarre, you have to look at what Theodore Roosevelt did in those exact same North Dakota Badlands. In 1883, a young, grieving Roosevelt came to the Elkhorn Ranch to clear his head after losing his wife and mother on the same day. The rugged frontier changed him. It turned a wealthy New York city boy into an outdoorsman who realized that America’s natural beauty wasn’t an endless piggy bank for industry.
During his presidency from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt created:
- Five new national parks
- 150 national forests
- 51 federal bird reserves
- Four national game preserves
He signed the Antiquities Act, giving presidents the power to protect historic landmarks as national monuments. TR openly called the destruction of nature "vandalism" and warned against turning American rivers into sewers and polluting the clean prairie air for private profit.
Inside the $450 Million Medora Project
The 96,000-square-foot facility itself is architectural marvel designed to mimic the earthen buttes of the Badlands. It has an accessible rooftop meant for stargazing and looking out over the public lands that TR cherished. Inside, the exhibits don't totally sanitize history. Visitors will see Roosevelt’s 1884 diary, his Rough Riders uniform, and even the eyeglasses case that absorbed a bullet during his 1912 assassination attempt. The exhibits also address his widely criticized, offensive comments regarding Native Americans.
But outside those museum walls, the policy reality is hard to ignore. Trump’s administration views federal land as a source of energy independence and economic revenue rather than a sacred trust. The administration's defense is straightforward: they believe over-regulation kills jobs and that private stewardship can protect the environment just as well as federal dictates. Trump’s appearance at the Burning Hills Amphitheatre alongside Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and Governor Kelly Armstrong is meant to project a message of American strength and expansion, fitting his broader Freedom 250 theme.
If you want to understand the modern political landscape, look no further than this week in Medora. You have a private museum celebrating a man who used federal power to lock up land from corporations, funded heavily by corporate donors, and dedicated by a president who believes the federal government should get out of the way of industry.
If you plan to visit the Badlands this summer to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, book your park passes and library tickets early. Timed-entry slots for the grand opening are already tight, and the contrast between the pristine views from the library roof and the reality of federal funding cuts on the ground is something you'll want to see for yourself.
