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By Jordan King
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President Donald Trump is set to travel to North Dakota next week for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, days before the long-anticipated institution opens to the public as part of the U.S.'s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Trump is scheduled to visit the library in Medora on July 1, according to organizers of Freedom 250, an initiative coordinating national events and commemorations for the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The library, which honors the nation's 26th president, opens to the public on July 4.
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"By participating in the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, President Trump will celebrate a leader whose life and accomplishments continue to inspire Americans to dream big, act boldly, and leave the nation stronger for future generations," the Freedom 250 announcement said.
While Trump is expected to be in attendance next Wednesday, he did not attend last week's grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Valerie Jarrett, the CEO of the Obama Foundation, told NBC News that Trump had not been invited but added that he could request a tour if he wanted one.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.
Inside the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
The sprawling museum and research center rises from the North Dakota Badlands, which Roosevelt famously credited with shaping his character during a period of great personal loss.
Edward O'Keefe, the CEO of the library, said the Medora location was chosen, rather than Roosevelt's native New York, because of how much his time there influenced many of the principles and leadership ideals that later defined his presidency.
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O'Keefe, who recently wrote a book about Roosevelt's love life, told CBS News that Roosevelt moved to the Badlands after his mother and wife died on the same day in 1884.
"At the funeral of his wife and mother—it was a double funeral—he was so desolate and so depressed, that they were concerned for his own safety," O'Keefe said.
"He was a broken man, in a broken land, and nature was his healer," the executive added.
The library has become one of the largest cultural projects ever undertaken in North Dakota. Construction of the roughly $450 million facility has been funded primarily through private donations, although state lawmakers approved financial support measures—including a line of credit through the state-owned Bank of North Dakota—to help bridge fundraising commitments during construction.
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Designed by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta, the building is intended to blend into the surrounding prairie and Badlands terrain and has been promoted as the first carbon-neutral presidential library. The site overlooks the Little Missouri River near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Unlike traditional presidential libraries, Roosevelt's places much of the experience outdoors, according to CBS News, which visited the venue for a preview in March.
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Visitors reach the building by walking a long, elevated boardwalk through the Badlands landscape before entering the museum, which sits partially embedded into the prairie.
They can also interact with an AI archive and converse with a digital version of Roosevelt.
Why Is Theodore Roosevelt Getting a Presidential Library Now?
For most Americans, presidential libraries are a familiar part of the post-White House tradition, preserving presidential papers, artifacts and historical records. But the 26th president died in 1919, decades before distant relative President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the presidential library system and opened the first such institution in 1941.
As a result, the older Roosevelt never saw a dedicated presidential library during his lifetime. The effort to create one began in the 2010s, when North Dakota business leaders, historians and his descendants launched a campaign to build a permanent institution.
Who Was Theodore Roosevelt?
Roosevelt, who served from 1901 to 1909, is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in American political history. He expanded the power of the presidency, took on powerful corporate monopolies through antitrust enforcement and helped establish the U.S. as a more active force on the world stage.
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Today, Roosevelt is perhaps best known for his conservation legacy. Often referred to as the "conservation president," he placed roughly 230 million acres of land under federal protection during his presidency, creating national forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments and parks that helped lay the foundations of the modern conservation movement, according to the National Park Service.
Roosevelt remains the youngest person ever to become president, assuming office at age 42 after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. He later won a full term in his own right.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Shakeema Edwards.
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