MEDORA, N.D.—President Donald Trump cut the red ribbon and delivered remarks to officially open the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library on July 1 in a patriotic ceremony just days before the country celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“Today, we come to the heartland of America to pay tribute to a man who embodied the heart, soul, and fight of our country as much as anyone who ever lived,” Trump said. “He’s a very special man, and that’s why I’m here.”
He brought Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor from the White House, where it was on display, and presented it to the museum.
”It was in the Roosevelt Room for many, many years,” Trump said. “I thought this would be a really appropriate place to have it.”
As the first visitor to the museum, Trump interacted with exhibits and toured the 96,000-square-foot building, filled with immersive experiences and educational opportunities.
Roosevelt’s presidential papers are housed in the Library of Congress and at Harvard, where they will remain. The new library includes personal artifacts, including the 50-page speech that saved his life when it helped slow a bullet during an assassination attempt in 1912 and the shirt, stained with blood, that he was wearing at the time.
The architecture was designed to blend naturally with the rugged, colorful buttes of the neighboring Little Missouri River Badlands and the Theodore Roosevelt National Forest.
“On the steps of the burning hills, we dedicate a living monument to a legend, statesman, soldier, frontiersman, and a true American hero,” Trump said.
“There could be no better place for this natural treasure than the ‘Rough Rider State.’”
He signed a bill during his first term designating 90 acres of federal land for the project.
Roosevelt’s ranching experiences in North Dakota led to his vision for sustainable land management, subsequently inspiring the National Park Service.
Across his two terms, Roosevelt preserved 230 million acres of land, including five national parks, 150 national forests, and 18 national monuments. He also established the U.S. Forest Service and 51 federal bird reserves, which later became the blueprint for national wildlife refuges.
Trump earlier disembarked from the Freedom Train, greeted by thousands of people, many wearing patriotic displays.
The presidential motorcade was escorted by horseback riders dressed as Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, the first volunteer U.S. cavalry from the 1898 Spanish-American War, known for their bravery and heroism.
Security was tight for the festivities, with magnetometers in place a couple of blocks away from the grounds, and all guests had to ride buses to enter the event.
Thousands of attendees started arriving before 6 a.m. local time for the event, with traffic backing up on the only road in and out of town. Organizers set up parking about 12 miles away and shuttled visitors in with dozens of school buses to accommodate the massive crowd.
Many of the attendees told The Epoch Times that they were excited to see the president and to kick off the Fourth of July celebrations.
“It means so much to us in North Dakota,” rancher James Walker said while waiting in a long line to get through security. “It’s all we’ve been talking about for the last month, and to have Trump here for the 250th is something our kids and grandkids will be talking about for years to come.”
Interior Secretary and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum joined the president for the trip.
The president flew to North Dakota aboard the nation’s new Air Force One, marking the maiden voyage for the Boeing 747 since it was gifted to the United States by Qatar last year.
The trip was Trump’s first to the state of his second term and his fourth as president.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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