Trump Says Obama Center A 'Disaster' Due To 'Woke' Workers In Baseless Rant
WOODLAWN — President Donald Trump baselessly blamed the cost of building the Obama Presidential Center on “DEI” and “woke people” during a White House meeting with Canada’s newly elected leader Tuesday.Trump repeatedly referred to the Obama Presidential Center’s construction in Jackson Park as a “disaster” because of its rising budget, delivering the remarks as part of a tangent during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, according to video from CBS2.“He’s building his library in Chicago, it’s a disaster,” Trump said. “He said something to the effect, ‘I only want DEI, I only want woke.’ He wants woke people to build it. Well, he got woke people, and they have massive cost overruns.”Trump claimed without evidence that Obama “wanted to be very politically correct” in personally hiring inexperienced, diverse workers, rather than hiring the “good, hard, tough, mean construction workers that I love.”
Obama Foundation spokesperson Emily Bittner dismissed Trump’s statements as false in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Obama Foundation officials’ initial estimates placed the cost of the center’s construction at about $350 million. The Sun-Times reported in 2021 the cost to build and operate the center in its first year would be about $830 million.Trump’s claims seemingly reference a $40 million discrimination lawsuit between Obama Center subcontractors over work at the site, a case to which the Obama Foundation is not a party, foundation officials said.“We look forward to welcoming all visitors to the 19.3-acre campus next spring, to experience a presidential center that not only honors the Obamas’ legacy but also lifts up the next generation of leaders,” Bittner said.The Obama Center — whose location the former president announced in 2016 and which was initially planned for a 2021 grand opening — is now set to open in 2026.The center has been under construction since 2021. The campus will include a museum building, a forum building, a Chicago Public Library branch and public art. The Home Court, a 45,000-square-foot arena, will open on the campus in late 2025.Diversity, equity and inclusion (or DEI) programs are a common scapegoat for Trump and his supporters. The president, without evidence, suggested diversity programs caused a January plane crash which killed 67 people, while the head of Trump’s Social Security Administration on Tuesday blamed such programs for causing long wait times for Social Security services.Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:‘Art For Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland’ Honors Indigenous Voices
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