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Next Pledge is a 12 month fixed time tracker tariff with variable rates lower than off chance price cap for standard variable tariffs. Direct debit required, T's and C's apply. Is that all a library? What else is going on here? No, well, it's a library. It's a museum, our library, it's a presidential, but I wouldn't start it till I'm out of office. I don't believe in building libraries or museums. It's really like the Barack Hussein Obama won in Chicago. In not a good location, and it's a very unattractive building that's seriously late and seriously over budget. I think you're going to see a great one here. And it'll go up on time, on budget, best location in Miami. They say it's the best block in Miami and the state worked with us. Were people there in the floors? No, it's going to be most likely a hotel. This concept could be office, but it's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath. And a 747 Air Force One in the lobby, it's just going to be a trick. All right, so there you have it. It's not going to be a library. It's going to probably be a hotel. Maybe an office space. Maybe a casino. We'll see. You should still watch the video because we are going to dissect what this thing looks like from an architectural standpoint. We're going to talk about the griff that went into it and just sort of how much it is an outrage that there's this big 50 foot tall, golden Trump statue that's apparently planned for this place. So enjoy the video, subscribe to the feed. We'll catch you later. Hey everyone, it's me, Sam Stuy. I'm managing editor of the book. I'm joined by JVL and Andrew Eger, our in-house architectural design experts. And it's important to have expertise on for this take because we are going to be looking at the unveiled renderings of the Donald Trump Presidential Library, introduced to us by Eric Trump in a video last night. It's unfortunate that Tim is not on this one because he seems to be the one who likes the Trump aesthetic the most of those on staff. I was not particularly a fan of this building, but we'll get to why in a little bit before we start this. We're going to play the video and then we're going to talk about specific parts of the video, but strap in because you got about a minute and 20 or so seconds of footage coming your way about the future. Donald J. Trump Presidential Library. Music playing. Music playing. So, a notable absence of books from this library in this rendering, but other than that, JVL, what are your thoughts? I mean, it really is the Trump Presidential Casino and Event Space. I'm Ron Burgundy. What this sizzle reel highlights is, look at this lovely outdoor space we have. If you'd like to rent it for an outdoor wedding or if you are hosting other events, we have a lovely ballroom space in here. And here's where we'll put the plane and also a Marine One and also a fighter jet. Yeah, there was a fighter jet there. And then we have, you know, but if Ted talks, if that's what your event planning needs require, well, we have this lovely amphitheater with a giant gold fist raised. I mean, let's pull up the amphitheater because I think that one stood out to basically everyone on the internet. That is a giant gold statue. I mean, giant. That would make Kim Jong-un blush I feel like. And it's 50 stories, which I mean, again, I don't mean to get into logistics, but typically you don't do high rises for places that you expect a lot of public in and out traffic because that all has to be managed via elevators. And so this idea like, well, it's going to be for tourists and what how, how are you going to accommodate tourists in it? So I think this is meant to be rented out. I think that's the whole point of this is it's a place to rent out and we can talk. We'll talk about the location of this venue, which is called the Trump presidential venue. Right. So in terms of logistics, I think that's an important point, which they seem to get second consideration, if not third, when they're doing these designs. I mentioned that because there's this New York Times article over the weekend about the ballroom. I don't know if you guys saw this one and they sort of broke down how silly the outlines of it were. There's a giant staircase in the front that leads literally to where they just a bunch of stairs up to some columns. And then you have to like walk around to get into the side entrance. And they just like these ornamental things that have no actual use. And so for them to put a amphitheater with a huge Trump statue, ostensibly on some floor up there will cause problems. You're going to have to have some serious elevator is like working back and forth. I mean, that that venue looks like it probably holds somewhere between 500 and 1000 people. 500 and 1000 people at the same time for the same event up and down through elevators. Like, I'm sorry, it's going to take it's going to take a minute. And Andrew, what do you think of the statue? Are you a fan? Obviously, I'm a big fan. I'm a big fan of sort of like restrained classical realism of the architectural style that that Donald Trump has always has always really leaned into. And I, you know, it's tasteful. It's modest. And I think that's for those are some of the good things about it on the subject of the stairs. I thought maybe this was like, you know, going up to the ballroom. I thought maybe this was like one of the lessons that they took away from January 6th. Sometimes it's nice to have sort of confusing features like that on the outside of important buildings. You just get the mobs going in the incorrect directions. But the one thing I would say, I guess there's two things about the about the the whole mock up, but the whole sizzle reel. There's like one thing it says about the future and one thing about the present and the thing about the future. I totally agree with JVL. I think this is like a pretty good insight into the role that Donald Trump sees himself playing in sort of post presidency politics, if there is going to be one for him. And I think it's less like being any sort of like elder statesman of like policy or anything like that for the party. But I do think he really loves the current role that he that he that he has at Mar-a-Lago where, you know, basically anybody who's anybody has to come to him. It's like a center of political gravity. You have to physically go there, be at his club in order to to sort of like curry favor and it's a really high status thing in Trump world. If you like have your wedding there or things like things like that. And I think this is, you know, just just sort of the the next iteration of that whole thing. You know, he's going to have to go back and live there full time. Maybe he doesn't want parties all the time, but at least you will have that sort of center of political gravity. And then as far as the the president is concerned, I just I just the ballroom thing is so funny. I'm sorry. Like the it's so funny that it occupies so much of his mental real estate right now. You know, there's all this other shit going on in the world. And yet, you know, the president's getting up on Air Force One and he's holding up his big, you know, like poster board with with the ballroom renderings. And he's he got unhappy with his first architect. So he fired him. He's like he's obviously micromanaging like everything about this ballroom. And that's here too. I mean, like, let's pull up the ball. Let's pull up the ballroom picture. Yeah. What are the big accomplishments of the of the second Trump term as sort of evidenced by what they're showing or deciding to showcase at the library is this big fucking ballroom he built, which is going to be, I guess, behind like glass. So like, I don't know if it really functions as an event space or if it's just like a replica for people to sort of gawk at and say, what a great ballroom. Great job. So this is I'm confused by this because this is I mean, clearly this is also the picture of the White House Barm as they're envisioning it. They are. Is the suggestion that they're going to have a replica of the new soon to be new White House Bar in this tower. And if so, it looks like it's ground level there. Is it going to be ground level at the tower? But the big takeaway from the Times piece about the ballroom specifically was that it's absurdly large and that you're not going to have events where there's. 2000 people at every single event. If you have event with like 400 people, which is very reasonable, the ballroom is going to look absurd. It's going to look completely empty. And so, you know, these audacious, huge, showy pieces that they're doing don't really serve a practical purpose. Can I can I weigh in one more time just on this picture that we have up on the screen right now because I'm totally fascinated by it blows me away. It looks like it's just a rendering of the White House ballroom. Right. And it is like, obviously this thing as it exists in this picture is not going to exist anywhere on any level of this of this, you know, giant high rise. But but then there's the plate glass window and there are the people who are outside of it who are also dressed in like their black tie attire who are like looking through it. So like, are these the are these the visitors? Are these the tourists to the museum who are like the one way mirror? Actually, Andrew, it's like the Truman Show. Yeah, you get to have the two the two for you get to have like your Glitterati. Of Maga like in your ballroom having your fancy event. And then you get like the normal Maga people outside and they get to have the fun experience of watching a fancy dinner through through one way. And Instagram is very strange. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Another morning, another reminder, there's a gap to be careful of, but maybe it's time to bridge the one between your nine to five and your dream of living life on your own terms. At HSBC, we know ambition looks different to everyone, whether it's retiring early or leaving more for your family. We can help because when it comes to unlocking your money's potential, we know wealth. Search HSBC wealth today. HSBC UK opening up a world of opportunity. HSBC UK current account holders only. Saving seekers, we hear you seeking energy savings. Always keep your energy prices under the price cap. With next pledge, your energy prices are guaranteed to always stay below the price cap. Satisfy those savings cravings. Check out our full range of tailored energy solutions at eonnext.com forward slash save. Eonnext, we make energy savings work. Next pledge is a 12 month fixed time trucker tariff with variable rates lower than off chance price cap for standard variable tariffs. Direct debit required. T's and C's apply. We know what it would be wild if they do a replica of this ballroom in the Trump Tower Library. Because after we pull down that fucking real ballroom in Washington, the replica will be the only one of it left. Yeah, well, maybe that's why they have to build the second one. There's other replicas that popped up in the video. The one that kind of confused me the most was the Rose Garden and we can pull that up. So something's wrong with this. As you can tell, is that a garden or is that like a green screen? Because there's, are they going to have like a little space there? Is that the colonnade? I couldn't really quite tell because that's not how it looks normally in the White House. Usually it goes out to the actual bar. It's just AI slop. Oh man. Isn't that the answer here? It's just AI slop. Also, just so everyone knows, Trump removed the actual garden part of the Rose Garden. So currently as it exists, it's just pavement with these umbrella chairs from Dural or Mar-a-Lago that he brought with him. And so this doesn't make sense. I'm not sure what's going on there. I had waved off the idea of it being AI slop just because these are like the professional rendering, supposedly from this firm that they have, you know, detailed. But actually, the more I look at this picture, the more JVL is totally right. If you look at like the faces along the wall in those portraits on the right side. Wait, did you actually think they were actors that they hired? No, no, I just thought they were like normal, normal architectural mock-ups, right? Like of the sort that every project has done forever. But, but, but 100% is already generated. Blonde lady has four fingers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, look, look, look, there are some, some, some real lookers who have been presidents in the past, judging by these, these framed pictures going along the right here. I don't think those words up top actually spell anything. So yeah, I apologize. It was not immediately evident to me that these were AI slop. That's pulled to the Oval Office, the Oval Office image that they're putting in this one. I mean, it's not crazy to have a replica of the oval in a, in a library. It's a little weird. It's a little weird, but I'm assuming some other. I think they do. Bill was saying earlier, I think some of the other libraries already have this sort of thing. And like, I think the Ted Candy library has a replica of his office or something of that. That does look like Bill Barr to me in the far right. Right there. Doesn't that come with that? Bill Barr talking to Kerry Lake and George HW Bush. I don't know. So you guys, so I guess the attractions here, you can maybe see a replica of the oval. You can maybe see a replica of the Rose Garden. You can definitely see the, the Air Force one. My assumption is that's the Katari one. I am sorry, but there is a 0.0% chance that they would take a $300 million plane and stick it in a building. Cause that is what we call a wasting asset. That thing is valuable. It can be used. Like that, that makes no zero sense at all. Don't they have it in the Reagan one though? They have a plane in the Reagan one. Maybe a decommissioned one. Yeah. But we are in the process of paying to retrofit this thing and take it apart bolt by bolt to take out all the listening bugs and stuff from Cutter that are baked into it. I am. I am. I just, I refuse to believe that they would put a fully functional up to spec Air Force one and just lock it away under class. The thing that confuses me about the Air Force one is maybe I'm wrong about this. It's a bit in a minute since I brushed up, but this sort of like classic, the baby blue color scheme of Air Force one. Isn't this the one that Trump is doing away with? I mean, like he has, he has brought us back. Like his model is like a, like a real blue and red, the Trump force one thing. And I don't understand why this is the one that's being mocked up. I guess it's maybe just as more I slop is the answer. Lazy laziness from the design team. Get on that guys. Trump doesn't like this one. He's the only one who doesn't like this one. And I guess like we can't end this without talking about just the sheer size of this building because it's enormous. So let's pull up that last one against the Miami skyline just for some backstory. They took this property from a local college. I guess the college felt like it. Oh, no. I hate it. No, no, Sam, Sam, it's so much more corrupt than that. Give us a story. So this was one of the last undeveloped parcels on Biscayne Boulevard, which is an incredibly very valuable piece of land. It was just a surface parking lot and it belongs to a local college. It was Miami, Miami Dade College. So the college transfers the property to the state of Florida, the state of Florida then assigned by Rhonda Santis, then transfers the property to the Trump Library Foundation. The estimated value of this property ranges from $76 million to the hundreds of millions of dollars. Nobody knows because if you had put this thing on the open market, God knows what it would have fetched. And what we have here is a vice chair of the board of Miami Dade College, Roberto Alonzo said, I think this is a further expansion of an educational facility, presidential libraries or places where you can go and research. This is how they justify themselves. So the entire thing is just as corrupt as the day is long. Again, it's three acres of like the most prime real estate you can possibly have in downtown Miami. And it just went fo-free, yank to the Trump family and they're going to mobilize the shit out of this. Could probably, I don't know, build housing for the city. You could probably build commercial real estate. You could do anything. Commercial real estate, right? I mean, you could have, but here's the thing. This thing is going to turn into commercial real estate. It'll just be commercial real estate by any other name. It's this giant 50 story tower, which is going to be used primarily for like events and rentals. And the nonprofit foundation that is the Trump presidential library foundation will just collect money off of it. And who will be in control of the Trump library foundation, the Trump family? It's just more grift. It's amazing. It's amazing. I was talking with Andrew about DeSantis earlier today because he's had some interesting tweets that suggest maybe discomfort, but this makes me a second guess. Sam has been grinding this axe of Ron DeSantis. I was like, he also just named- Yeah, he's renaming the Palm Beach Airport, President Donald J. Trump International Airport, and he's given him all this free real estate for the library. But he also had this tweet, you know, about this backhanded compliment about AI stocks. And I don't know, man. So yeah, I look forward to that in the morning shots, I guess. Can we talk briefly about the aesthetic of the tower itself and how it is a carbon copy of the Freedom Tower in New York, Bruny Liddler? And so somebody is going to put these two things next to each other in a proportional rendering. And you will see how much the two of them look the same, except that the Trump Miami Tower is half the size. Yeah, but relative to the rest of Miami, it's fucking nasty. Relative to the rest of Miami, it's enormous. I don't want to be able to put any ideas in Trump's head because if you remember, I mean, he fired that first ballroom designer, as I was mentioning before, in part because Trump wanted to keep making the ballroom bigger and bigger and bigger. And at a certain point, the architect was like, look, man, we got to worry about matters of scale. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Again, this isn't scale. So what you're seeing is not scale. If we put these things at scale, the Trump Tower would be half the size. It would go up to a little bit further of, yeah. It's identical. We are one bad, like, Oval Office presentation away. All they have to do, somebody has to carry in that scale presentation to the president. And all of a sudden, this screenshot on the left here is half the building. Do a popsicle stick model of the two and feel like Mr. President, take a look at this. This information must be kept from the president at all costs. The skyline of Miami has suffered enough. So this is confession. I'm not proud of this fact, but I have never rooted so hard for climate change. For the city of Miami to become just flooded. Because let me tell you, seeing this place underwater would be chef's kiss. What do you think the insurance policies are on this bad boy? It's got to be high. That's why you got to hold all those weddings and bar mitzvahs there. Yeah, exactly. I'm going to get a Trump library bar mitzvah for my boy. Let's hope it's built in time. All right, JVL Andrew, thanks so much. Appreciate it for those who are actual architects and have some thoughts on what they've just witnessed. Drop them in the comments. We'll take a look. We'll see if we can incorporate them somehow. For those who are not subscribers to our feed, do subscribe. It's a great place for conversations just like this. Talk to you guys later.
