Trump offers to help Obama with presidential library's 'disaster'

President Donald Trump connected Tuesday offered to assistance retired with the improvement of the Obama Presidential Center, which has been plagued by immense outgo overruns and delays, with the project’s clasp of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies drafting important attraction recently.

Trump, who reshaped metropolis skylines with towering skyscrapers passim his concern career, linked DEI to the problems astatine the monolithic Chicago project, which has seen costs spiral from an archetypal $350 cardinal to $830 cardinal successful 2021, with nary caller updated figures available. 

"Look, President Obama, if helium wanted help, I'd springiness him assistance due to the fact that I'm a truly bully builder and I physique connected time, connected budget. He's gathering his room successful Chicago. It's a disaster," Trump said astatine the White House alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. 

President Donald Trump connected Tuesday offered to assistance retired with the improvement of the Obama Presidential Center, which has been plagued by immense outgo overruns and delays. The task has embraced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg, left, Fox News Digital, center, Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images, right.)

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

Trump was speaking astir the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act -- passed to boost home semiconductor probe and manufacturing - and its DEI provisions erstwhile helium pivoted to the Obama Presidential Center. 

"[Obama] said thing to the effect, ‘I lone privation DEI, I lone privation woke,’" Trump said. "He wants woke radical to physique it. Well, helium got woke radical and they person monolithic outgo overruns. A occupation is stopped. I don't know, it's a disaster. And I don't similar that happening due to the fact that it's atrocious for the presidency that a happening similar that should happen. He's got a room that's a disaster."

Construction is inactive nether mode astatine the 19.3-acre tract which volition dwell of a 225-foot-tall museum, a integer library, league facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. 

From the outset, the task touted "ambitious goals" for definite operation diversity quotas, with its contracts allocated to "diverse suppliers," 35% of which were required to beryllium minority-based enterprises (MBEs).

WATCH: The Brian Kilmeade Show: Obama Presidential Center rocked by $40M radical bias lawsuit

A $40.75 cardinal racially charged suit filed earlier this twelvemonth by a number contractor against the project’s structural technologist shined a spotlight connected the DEI-driven facet of the project. The structural engineers claimed the number contractor lacked capable qualifications and acquisition to execute its work, resulting successful delays.

Trump connected Tuesday said Obama was paying for prioritizing DEI implicit meritocracy. 

"And helium wanted to beryllium precise politically close and helium didn't usage good, hard, tough, mean operation workers that I emotion Marco," Trump said, switching into his trademark deeper code portion addressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

Obama Presidential Center aerial changeable successful March.  (Fox News Digital)

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"I emotion those operation workers but helium didn't privation operation workers. He wanted radical that ne'er did it earlier and he's got a catastrophe successful his hands. Many millions of dollars implicit fund and I would emotion to assistance him with it oregon idiosyncratic other I could urge professionals, but it was not built successful a nonrecreational manner."

Emily Bittner, the vice president of communications astatine the nonprofit Obama Foundation, said Trump’s remarks were not based successful facts and that the halfway itself is not progressive successful the lawsuit, nor did it hold the timeline of the installation which is acceptable to unfastened successful 2026. The Obama Foundation oversees the center’s improvement and volition besides beryllium housed astatine the halfway erstwhile it opens. 

"Everyone who sees the Obama Presidential Center is blown distant by its beauty, standard and the mode it volition beryllium an economical motor for Chicago and a beacon of anticipation for the world," Bittner told Fox News Digital successful a statement. "We look guardant to welcoming each visitors to the 19.3-acre field adjacent spring, to acquisition a statesmanlike halfway that not lone honors the Obamas’ legacy but besides lifts up the adjacent procreation of leaders."

The Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to unfastened successful 2026 having initially meant to unfastened successful 2021. (Fox News Digital)

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Bittner said the hundreds of workers connected tract each time are a testament to the center’s advancement and added that the task is being funded privately and not by the taxpayer. 

The room astatine the halfway volition beryllium a integer 1 and not a carnal 1 similar different statesmanlike libraries have, which are federally funded and person size restrictions. 

Obama’s existent statesmanlike room is successful Hoffman Estates successful the northwest of Chicago and is expected to move to College Park successful Maryland aboriginal this year.