Donald Trump is considering using the millions he received from lawsuit settlements as seed money to build his presidential library in his adopted home state of Florida.
The president plans to create what’s sure to be a tasteful monument to his time in the White House at Florida Atlantic University, which has reportedly offered Trump a 100-year lease for free land on its campus, according to The Wall Street Journal.
To help fund the ambitious project—which could cost hundreds of millions—Trump is planning to donate the $15 million he received from ABC News as part of a defamation lawsuit settlement, the Journal reported. That case, involving host George Stephanopoulos, was settled in December 2024.
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Trump will also use the $25 million he secured in January from Meta, following a separate lawsuit against the company for suspending his Facebook and Instagram accounts after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to the newspaper.
Additional funding is expected to come from a nonprofit launched by his son, Eric Trump, and Michael Boulos, husband of Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany. The project will also be supplemented by what the Journal described as “leftover” inauguration funds.
Trump didn’t seriously pursue a library at the end of his first term, as he was convinced his presidential career wasn’t over and instead immediately began plotting a return to the White House.
The move to now formally pursue a library suggests he may finally be giving up on the idea of somehow skirting the Constitution to run for a third term, despite weeks of teasing the possibility.
In an effort to make the library a major draw, Trump is hoping to showcase the $400 million luxury jet gifted to him by Qatar as a centerpiece exhibit, according to the Journal.
The idea appears be lifted from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, where Reagan’s retired Air Force One is on display.
“The president wants something more akin to what Reagan has,” Felix Lasarte, an attorney for the Trump Organization scouting library locations across Florida, told the Journal.
FAU’s campus in Boca Raton is said to be the main target for the library due to its proximity to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
The White House and FAU did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
