President Donald Trump was in Medora Wednesday for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Trump toured the new library before speaking at the Burning Hills Amphitheatre, where Governor Kelly Armstrong, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also spoke.
The North Dakota Monitor reported heavily on his visit yesterday, as did the Red River Farm Network.
The visit leaned heavily into Roosevelt’s North Dakota story. The Monitor reported on Trump arriving in Medora on a short ceremonial Freedom 250 train ride, with Rough Rider reenactors waiting to escort his motorcade. It was a nod to Roosevelt’s own trips to Medora by train in the 1880s.
Trump and Burgum cut the ribbon for the library. Trump also presented Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor to the library. The medal had been displayed in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.
In his remarks, Trump praised Roosevelt’s toughness, service, and role in shaping the country. Armstrong also pointed to Roosevelt’s time in the Badlands, where he came after losing his mother and wife on the same day and later said his North Dakota experience helped make him president.
The library officially opens to the public Saturday, July 4, as part of America’s 250th birthday celebration. July 4 exhibit admission is sold out, but the library says public tours are available starting July 5.
Red River Farm Network also reported North Dakota Farm Bureau’s Calvin Benson praised the administration’s attention to agriculture during the visit. The Monitor reported a small group of public lands advocates protested near the Fryburg exit, saying the administration’s public lands policies are at odds with Roosevelt’s conservation legacy.
Events continue in Medora through the holiday weekend. Visitors are encouraged to use public shuttles, and the library says Chateau Road is closed to private vehicles through Saturday.
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