Qatar welcomes President Donald Trump with opulence
President Donald Trump touched down in Doha, Qatar to a more-than-warm welcome of fighter jets, Cybertrucks, and dancers.
- A new nonprofit, Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc., has been established to raise funds for a future presidential library for Donald Trump.
- The foundation, led by Eric Trump and Michael Boulos, aims to preserve and celebrate Trump’s legacy and presidency.
- Settlements from Meta and ABC, totaling $37 million, along with a $400 million Boeing 747 from Qatar, are intended for the library.
- The library will be privately funded and maintained, similar to other presidential libraries in the U.S. Presidential Library System.
With a $400 million luxury jet waiting in the wings and a $37 million check in hand − thanks to settlements from Meta and ABC− President Donald Trump’s future presidential library plan is ready for take off.
All it needs is a nonprofit − or two − to get it off the ground.
To that end, Trump’s son Eric and son-in-law Michael Boulos have filed paperwork establishing a nonprofit to raise money for the library, the second in the past six months
The nonprofit, Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc., will “steward, preserve, and celebrate the legacy and historical record of President Donald J. Trump and his presidency,” according to documents filed May 23 in Florida.
The foundation’s listed activities include establishing and maintaining archives, libraries, and museums and conducting educational programs and community outreach.
The nonprofit, which will eventually have anywhere from three to 21 trustees, lists as “initial trustees” the president’s second son, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization; Boulos, a businessman married to the president’s youngest daughter, Tiffany; and attorney James Kiley.
The address listed is the same as the Trump National Jupiter Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, according to the document. In December, a nonprofit with a slightly different name was incorporated with a West Palm Beach address. Registration records for that entity, the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund, Inc, did not name any directors.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment on the new nonprofit.
The U.S. Presidential Library System includes 16 presidential libraries documenting presidencies from Herbert Hoover’s to Joe Biden’s. They are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration. The museums are typically built in the presidents’ home states with private donations and endowments.
While Trump did not build a physical library or a museum after his first term, a future library has money already committed toward it and a luxury jet waiting in the wings.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed after he was suspended from the social media platforms following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. About $22 million is earmarked for Trump’s future presidential library. In December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward the library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate remarks on air about the civil case brought against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon accepted a luxury Boeing 747 “palace in the sky” jet from Qatar to be used as Air Force One, the president’s plane. Trump has said the unprecedented $400 million gift, will be transferred to his library after his term ends.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal