A Donald J. Trump Library

30. oktober 2020
All images courtesy of DJTrumpLibrary.com

Although the October 25 announcement of the website on Twitter reads, "We are launching djtrumplibrary.com in the next couple of days as a closing argument for why @realDonaldTrump needs to get 4 more years (at least) to counteract the radical liberal agenda of @JoeBiden," one need look at the website for just a few seconds to realize its anonymous creators think the exact opposite. Right there on the front page are a few "highlighted exhibits of the library," all of them aligned with some of the most despicable acts and characteristics of the Trump administration:

  • COVID Memorial, with a quiet reflecting pool to "mourn the thousands dead under his lack of leadership" and a green roof for "VIP burial of the deceased supporters who did not take COVID seriously."
  • Wall of Criminality, where Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, George Nader, George Papadopoulos, Steve Bannon, and others display "the pattern of criminal behavior Donald J. Trump has been getting away with for years."
  • Tax Evasion 101, a mural that "showcases the staggering amounts of money one man declares to have lost, all in an effort to prove to the world that he’s actually a… winner."
  • Alt-Right Auditorium, which features a curated film series with Birth of A Nation and other questionable films.


Other exhibits include a Twitter Gallery, an Autocrats Gallery, "Lie to America," a replica of the Oval Office (one is actually a feature of most presidential libraries), and Trump the Builder, with scale models of the buildings that have his name on them, whether he built them or not. More clues of the creators' intentions can be found in the admission prices ($25 for citizens, $50 for immigrants) and the library's location: 1 MAGA Lane in Nogales, Arizona, a hypothetical address mapped to a spot next to the border wall.

Humorous much of the time and never afraid to draw attention to the worst of the Trump presidency (a timeline on the front page is called "An Administration of Unprecedented Scandal"), the Donald J. Trump Library website is architectural design as political commentary. Trump's offenses are displayed in modern galleries of an apparently modern building, with large glass walls; it is a far cry — intentionally, I'm guessing — from the classical style promoted by his administration. That the design is rendered in a manner that is... less than flattering (odd angles, sometimes low lighting, obvious material mapping) is, I hope, part of the criticism. Some of those renderings are below, but visit djtrumplibrary.com to browse the rest of the "library" — and if you live in the US, be sure to vote on or before November 3, 2020.

Entrance to the Donald J. Trump Library
Wall of Criminality in the atrium
Trump the Builder exhibit next to the atrium
Autocrats Gallery
Twitter Gallery
"Lie to America" interactive exhibit
COVID Graveyard
Prison + Work Release exhibit

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