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Obama Center isn’t a traditional presidential library. Critics say it’s an activism center.
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Don’t call it a library.
The $1 billion Obama Presidential Center opened with huge fanfare last week in a park near the shore of Lake Michigan, but critics say what the public thinks is a library will function as the headquarters of Barack Obama’s private foundation, promoting the 44th president’s left-wing worldview to future generations.
While every other modern presidential library houses that former commander-in-chief’s papers for public viewing, the Obama Presidential Center has no such component. Instead, Obama’s presidential records are being stored elsewhere, though digital versions may one day be available there.
SUBCONTRACTORS SAY THEY’RE OWED MILLIONS, FACE FINANCIAL RUIN, AFTER HELPING BUILD OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER
Signs reading «Home For Action» and «Bring Change Home» are displayed outside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 19, 2026. Critics point to the messaging as evidence the Center functions as more than a traditional presidential library. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
At its core, the center serves two purposes: a museum dedicated to Obama’s presidency and the headquarters of the Obama Foundation, Obama’s private nonprofit organization.
The sprawling 19.3-acre campus will host various leadership programs, while spaces there include a «Democracy in Action Lab,» conference facilities, foundation offices and a major athletic complex designed for youth sports and community programs — features not typically associated with a presidential library.
Signs reading «Bring Change Home» and «A Home For Action» surround the perimeter of the campus. The messaging mirrors how the Obama Foundation has described the center in its annual reports — not as a traditional presidential library, but as a «campus» and «living institution.»
«We are building more than a campus. We are creating a living institution that will inspire, empower, and connect the next generation of leaders,» the foundation’s 2024 annual report reads.
The center, which as of 2021 had cost well over $800 million and is believed to have eclipsed the $1 billion mark, is a departure from presidential libraries, in both scale and purpose.
«Usually, these libraries are a monument to a presidency and the presidency is in the past, it’s in the rear-view mirror,» Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and former George W. Bush administration aide, told Fox News Digital. «It looks like Obama wants to use it as some kind of activism center, something that continues to promote his ideas and his political views.»
Troy said the direction did not surprise him.
A «Bring Change Home» banner is displayed outside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
«Obama was a community organizer. He’s an activist. That’s how he came up, and it doesn’t surprise me that he wants to go in this direction,» Troy said.
Obama himself offered a glimpse into how he views the center’s mission during Thursday’s opening ceremony.
«We designed the center not to be some lifeless mausoleum,» Obama said, while highlighting Obama Foundation leaders from around the world.
Among them was a Polish human-rights lawyer behind more than 30 lawsuits involving refugees, climate policy, LGBTQ rights and anti-discrimination litigation.
«This center is devoted to lifting up their stories, giving them the tools and support they need to expand their impact,» Obama said.
Obama later underscored that mission in his speech.
«While we are non-partisan, we are not value-neutral. We have a point of view,» he said
Barack Obama speaks during the dedication of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)
OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER WANTS 100 UNPAID VOLUNTEERS AS VALERIE JARRETT EARNS $740K
Critics say Thursday’s ceremony confirmed what they feared all along: The center seems designed not just to preserve Obama’s presidency, but to carry his vision into the future.
The center’s opening has reignited debate over whether the project evolved far beyond the traditional presidential library model for which many Chicagoans originally believed they were handing over their historic parkland.
The public land fight
The distinction matters because the center occupies roughly 19 acres of Jackson Park — Chicago’s equivalent of New York’s Central Park — under a controversial 99-year agreement city leaders approved for a one-time $10 payment.
Opponents argue that transferring public parkland to a private foundation violated the public trust doctrine, a legal principle intended to preserve public assets for the public benefit.
Those challenges were ultimately unsuccessful in court, although critics note that the central public trust arguments were never fully tested on the merits.
«When we were defeated, we weren’t told that we were wrong on the merits,» Richard Epstein, a New York University law professor and one of the nation’s foremost experts on the public trust doctrine, who represented the local Protect Out Parks group.
A map graphic shows the footprint of the Obama Presidential Center inside Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side along Lake Michigan. (Fox News Digital)
«We were told that we had no right to bring the complaint at all.»
The Chicago City Council approved the deal with Obama, but Epstein said lawmakers were not free to simply set aside the public trust doctrine.
«The public trust doctrine is meant to be a restraint on the legislature,» Epstein told Fox News Digital. «This has been an epic frustration.»
Epstein said his concerns extend beyond the use of public land. Courts never fully examined whether the foundation had sufficient financial safeguards in place before receiving control of the site, including a long-promised $470 million reserve fund intended to shield taxpayers from future liabilities, Epstein said. A Fox News Digital investigation found that just $1 million has been deposited into the fund.
Epstein warned that handing over public land without fully vetting the foundation’s finances could expose taxpayers to future risks if the center encounters financial trouble down the road.
WATCH: NYU law professor Richard Epstein says courts never ruled on key Obama Center claims
Those concerns resurfaced after a Fox News Digital investigation found minority-owned and local subcontractors who worked on the center say they were stiffed for millions of dollars.
Critics also point out that the public land transfer was only part of the taxpayer contribution. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on surrounding road, utility and transportation improvements tied to the project. Supporters say those upgrades modernized the area, but opponents argue they were done to serve a privately run institution.
Bait and switch?
Bob Grogan, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said the project was initially promoted as a presidential library to win public support and secure the land, but then morphed into something very different.
«This isn’t a presidential library. It’s a Democratic headquarters on the South Side,» Grogan told Fox News Digital outside the facility.
Grogan described the shift as a classic Chicago politics bait-and-switch.
«They go and sell it with the most palatable thing,» Grogan said. «Then they just incrementally, drip by drip, make it worse until they get back to the reality.»
The Home Court athletic facility is seen at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 19, 2026. The facility is designed for youth sports, mentoring programs and community events. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
«It’s not just a museum. It’s the home base for the foundation and everything it does,» he added. «They’re not going to go and pay rent someplace else when they’re going to have this big mausoleum here to go and hold their meetings and plot their plans.»
The National Archives and Records Administration — which has oversight on all other presidential libraries — told Fox News Digital that the Obama Center is operated entirely by the Obama Foundation and sits outside the federal presidential library system.
That means the foundation — not the federal government — decides how the center is run, what exhibits visitors see and how Obama’s legacy is presented.
The campus does include a branch of the Chicago Public Library.
WATCH: Illinois GOP chair says Obama Center is political operation on public land
Troy: A mixed verdict
Troy said presidential libraries have evolved over time and that making records available digitally could ultimately benefit historians if the system works as intended. Presidential researchers like himself may no longer need to travel across the country to review presidential records, he noted.
Troy also acknowledged that presidents have traditionally had broad discretion over the non-archival portions of their presidential libraries.
«At the end of the day, presidents raise the money for these things and they have leeway to do what they wish with that part of it,» Troy said.
Books including biographies of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, civil rights leader John Lewis and revolutionary figure Che Guevara are displayed inside the Chicago Public Library branch at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 19, 2026. The branch is part of the Chicago Public Library system and operates within the Center campus. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
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«It’s not the direction I would choose, but he raises the money,» Troy said. «He gets to do what he wants.»
But Troy cautioned that the center should not lose sight of the traditional purpose of presidential libraries.
«I worry about getting too far afield from the purpose of what these things are supposed to be, which are memorials to a presidency and a repository for all their documents,» he said.
A fence banner featuring former President Barack Obama is displayed outside the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
leadership, presidential, barack obama, fox news investigates, parks
INTERNACIONAL
AOC’s ‘modern-day lynchings’ claim torn to shreds online as Black hanging case findings tell a different story
‘Not exactly Alexandria from the Bronx’: ‘The Five’ ridicules AOC’s fake southern accent
The Five panel criticizes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s use of a «fake Southern accent» at a Memphis rally for Justin Pearson, sparking debate about her political authenticity and policy prowess. Commentators question her ability to handle unscripted debates, highlighting past instances where her policy proposals lacked substance, like the Amazon HQ2 controversy in Long Island City.
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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., warned Friday of «racial terror» and «widespread modern-day lynchings» in the U.S. as she joined dozens of Democrats demanding that the DOJ and FBI investigate hanging deaths of Black Americans.
Multiple official findings in several recent cases show that law enforcement or medical examiners ruled the deaths suicides, while at least one very recent death remains under a homicide investigation.
AOC alleges there is systemic racial bias at the agencies, while fellow progressive lawmaker Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., called the hangings a «national crisis» in a letter to the agencies that she spearheaded.
MS RACHEL SPEAKS OUT ON BLACK HANGING CASES AS RALEIGH DEATH IS DECLARED SUICIDE
«This year, there have already been 10 reported hangings of Black people in the U.S. I’m proud to have signed onto Rep. Pressley’s letter to address these widespread modern-day lynchings and put a stop to this racial terror,» Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X in support of the call.
Pressley warned in her letter that «Black folks are being found hanged in America» and insisted: «We cannot stand by while strange fruit hangs from trees across the country.»
The letter, addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, was signed by Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez and about 50 Democrats. They demanded a «thorough, transparent, and comprehensive federal investigation into every hanging death of a Black individual across the United States,» arguing that federal agencies have failed for decades to adequately investigate such deaths.
FAMILY IDENTIFIES YOUNG WOMAN FOUND FATALLY SHOT IN HOME OWNED BY REP AYANNA PRESSLEY’S HUSBAND
One 2026 case involved the death of a 21-year-old Atlanta man who had gone missing. He was later found hanging from a tree in a Cobb County park, where officials ruled out foul play and deemed the death a suicide, according to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate.
Another 2026 case involved Delta State University student Demartravion Reed in Mississippi. Officials «determined the cause of death to be a hanging and the manner of death as suicide.»
At the time, the case reopened old memories of the murder of Emmett Till, according to reports. Till was a Black teen kidnapped and murdered by White men not far from the site after he was falsely accused of flirting with a White woman in 1955.
15-YEAR-OLD BLACK TEEN’S MURDER REVEALS THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT WHITE GUILT IN AMERICA
A Grio report on Pressley’s letter also referenced the hanging deaths of a 58-year-old man in Albany, N.Y., and a 39-year-old man in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
The Albany Police Department said Earl Smith’s death was «ruled a suicide» and investigators found «no evidence» of criminal activity.
«The Albany Police Department is aware of concerns posted on social media suggesting that criminal activity was involved with this incident, which has understandably caused public concern,» the department said.
A preliminary investigation of the Wisconsin man’s death also indicated suicide, according to Brookfield’s police chief cited by the Waukesha County Freeman.
At least one case remains under homicide investigation, according to reports.
Tasia Fortune was found hanging outside an abandoned house in Jackson, Mississippi, CNN reported Thursday. Authorities later questioned Terence Bernard Anderson, the father of one of her children, and arrested him on unrelated weapons charges, according to several reports.
AOC SLAMS ‘OPPRESSED’ TRUMP STATES WHILE TOUTING NYC SERVICES DESPITE $5B DEFICIT AND TRANSIT CRIME SPIKE
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., talks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The lawmakers’ characterization also drew criticism on social media.
«Those community notes are stacking up,» one critic said, as X’s crowdsourced correction indicator included several wire reports and media links disputing Ocasio-Cortez’ claims.
«There should be some sort of penalty for willfully lying on social media, especially for a politician,» another claimed.
Former Energy Department official Matt Van Swol posted to X, «In the last ‘lynching’ of a Black woman, the media conveniently left out the prime suspect in the case was her Black boyfriend. Zero White people are lynching Black people in America today.»
WATCH: SQUAD DEMOCRAT SPEAKS OUT AFTER TEEN FOUND SHOT DEAD AT HUSBAND’S BOSTON PROPERTY
Former Senate staffer Matt Whitlock added that «every death is a tragedy, but what do you think ‘widespread’ means if only one of these was actually a homicide. Not sure you’ve landed the point about ‘racial terror’ with this.»
Ayanna Pressley at the Featured Session «Repro Revolution: A Conversation with Rep. Ayanna Pressley» during the SXSW Conference & Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center on March 9, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
X’s crowdsourced Community Notes feature also pointed readers to law-enforcement and medical-examiner findings in several of the cases, stating that most high-profile hanging deaths it identified in 2025 and 2026 had been ruled suicides and that one remained under homicide investigation.
When reached for comment, Pressley spokesperson Ricardo Sanchez directed Fox News Digital back to the lawmakers’ letter to Blanche and Patel, specifically a line reminding them that «Congress enacted the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022 to ensure the DOJ and FBI are empowered to fully investigate suspicious deaths and hold individuals accountable.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez, the DOJ and the FBI for comment.
alexandria ocasio cortez, hate crime, homicide, controversies state and local, politics, the squad, democrats
INTERNACIONAL
Guatemala declara alerta roja en el Trifinio por crisis de sequía: vicepresidenta Karin Herrera ordena medidas urgentes
Guatemala declaró alerta roja en la región del Trifinio por los efectos agroclimáticos de El Niño, mientras la vicepresidenta Karin Herrera ordenó medidas urgentes para contener la escasez de agua y alimentos en municipios de Chiquimula y Jutiapa. La decisión, tomada el 11 de septiembre de 2026, busca reforzar la atención sanitaria, sostener el abastecimiento alimentario y proteger a las familias expuestas a la sequía en el corredor seco ampliado.
La alerta roja se activó después de que el Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional declarara alerta naranja en todo el país ante el riesgo de afectaciones en la disponibilidad de agua y alimentos. La medida nacional antecedió a la elevación de la emergencia en la zona fronteriza del Trifinio.
La instrucción fue dirigida a la Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres durante dos reuniones extraordinarias encabezadas por Herrera. La Vicepresidencia informó que los encuentros buscaron coordinar a las instituciones responsables de atender las consecuencias de la sequía.
Un plan para el Trifinio y el corredor seco ampliado
La primera reunión correspondió al Gabinete Específico de Desarrollo Social, que revisó los acuerdos alcanzados con el Gabinete Específico de Desarrollo Económico. Allí se presentó el Plan de Acción–Respuesta a Emergencia por Sequía 2026, diseñado para la Región Trifinio y el corredor seco ampliado, donde se concentra una parte de la vulnerabilidad alimentaria guatemalteca.
Cinco ministerios recibieron tareas específicas. El Ministerio de Economía deberá fijar precios de referencia y actuar frente a aumentos injustificados en productos de la canasta básica y combustibles.
El Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social deberá sumar medidas de vigilancia y respuesta ante enfermedades relacionadas con la falta de agua o su mala calidad. También deberá incorporar al Consejo Nacional de la Juventud en las brigadas sanitarias.
El plan dispone el despliegue de 124 brigadas de salud y nutrición con equipos multidisciplinarios. Su labor incluirá suplementación, desparasitación y vacunación de niñas, niños y mujeres embarazadas, además del monitoreo comunitario de la calidad del agua, de acuerdo con el Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional.
El Ministerio de Desarrollo Social tendrá que asegurar que los bonos conserven su carácter condicionado y alcancen a todos los beneficiarios prioritarios. A su vez, el Ministerio de Finanzas Públicas deberá identificar recursos disponibles y analizar medidas legislativas que permitan acelerar la ejecución presupuestaria.
Las autoridades asignaron al Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación la reducción de los plazos de entrega de alimentos. La cartera también deberá definir acciones para asegurar agua y alimentación al ganado afectado por la ausencia de pastos.
Reservas de alimentos, pozos y asistencia para productores
La emergencia contempla reservas estratégicas de alimentos y la activación del seguro agrícola como compensación ante la pérdida de cosechas. También prevé reservorios artesanales para captar agua de lluvia, raciones destinadas a la ganadería y la rehabilitación de pozos comunitarios.
Los productores rurales podrán acceder a crédito con tasas nulas mediante inversión de capital en cajas rurales. La medida busca evitar que los campesinos abandonen sus tierras por la pérdida de cultivos y la falta de recursos para sostener su actividad.
La Secretaría de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional, Sesan, deberá mantener el seguimiento de las familias que atraviesan inseguridad alimentaria y actualizar la estimación de población afectada. Desde el Conasan también continuará la verificación del estado nutricional de la niñez y de la evolución de la crisis en los hogares más expuestos.
Herrera convocó a alcaldes y gobernadores del Trifinio y del corredor seco ampliado para que eleven las alertas necesarias ante los Coordinadores de Emergencia municipales y departamentales. El objetivo es garantizar el acceso al agua y la asistencia para las familias alcanzadas por la sequía.
Los gobiernos locales deberán utilizar recursos de los Consejos de Desarrollo en cocinas escolares y centros de recuperación nutricional, conforme a la tipología de seguridad alimentaria aprobada por el Consejo Nacional de Desarrollo Urbano y Rural. La instrucción busca dirigir fondos hacia los espacios donde se atiende a población con mayor riesgo nutricional.
“Cada día cuenta; tenemos que proteger la salud y la vida de la población guatemalteca”, afirmó Herrera durante la reunión del Gabinete Específico de Desarrollo Social. La vicepresidenta sostuvo que la respuesta debe situarse por encima de las banderas políticas y concentrarse en las familias vulnerables.
La producción nacional de granos resulta insuficiente, por lo que Guatemala deberá recurrir a importaciones para garantizar el abastecimiento oportuno. Herrera ordenó anticipar y agilizar esos procedimientos, además de fortalecer el monitoreo de caudales, embalses y generación hidroeléctrica con escenarios que permitan activar medidas preventivas.
“Es indispensable garantizar transparencia y trazabilidad en la entrega de la asistencia, verificando que llegue efectivamente a las familias que la necesitan”, señaló la vicepresidenta, según la Vicepresidencia. Las instituciones convocadas deberán presentar en 15 días calendario un informe escrito sobre los avances en la aplicación de las medidas.
Guatemala,reunión gubernamental,ministerios
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President Donald Trump said Saturday during a trip to Ireland that he would love to see the country unified.
The Republic of Ireland gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1922, while Northern Ireland, established in 1921, has remained part of the U.K.
«I don’t want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I’d love to see it unified. I have friends on both sides, great people. They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right?» Trump said in Dublin while on stage with Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin. «I’d like to see a unified country. I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. It’s going to happen eventually.»
He added that the U.K. «will have something to say about it obviously,» but reiterated that unification would be a «great thing.»
TRUMP SAYS IRAN CONFLICT COULD END AFTER MIDTERMS
President Donald Trump meets with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin at Farmleigh House in Phoenix Park in Dublin on Sept. 12, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
In response to Trump’s comments, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a statement that the U.K. government’s stance on reunification remains unchanged.
«I am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum, and until that changes, there will not be one,» Burnham told reporters in Parliament, according to Reuters.
Later Saturday, Trump addressed a crowd at the Deerfield Residence, the official home of the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
U.S. Ambassador Edward S. Walsh introduced the president, who took the stage to the sound of Lee Greenwood’s «God Bless the USA.»
Early in his remarks, Trump revisited the question a reporter had asked during his meeting with Martin about the prospect of Irish reunification.
«That’s one of those questions where no matter what you say, no matter how well you say it, there’s no good answer, right?» he said, before saying reunification would be a «cool thing.»
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to U.S. Embassy personnel and business leaders at Deerfield Residence on Sept. 12, 2026, in Dublin, Ireland. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
IRISH AUTHORITIES SEEK EXTRADITION WARRANT FOR SUSPECT IN MURDER OF AMERICAN MOM JAMEY CARNEY: REPORT
The debate over whether Ireland should be one country has been one of the island’s most divisive political issues for decades.
At times, it was far more than a war of words. From the late 1960s through the late 1990s, Northern Ireland was gripped by decades of sectarian violence known as «the Troubles.»
Irish nationalists and republicans — drawn largely from Northern Ireland’s Catholic minority — sought to reunite the island under a single Irish state.
Unionists and loyalists, who mostly belonged to the Protestant majority, wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the U.K.
Throughout the conflict, more than 3,500 people were killed in violence involving Irish republican and loyalist paramilitary groups, as well as British security forces.
A photographer captures a scene of soldiers in front of a building in May 1981 in Northern Ireland. (Joe McNally/Getty Images)
The fighting largely ceased with a peace deal in 1998, but in the decades since, tensions remain between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.
A 2024 U.K. Parliament report found that 90% of students in Northern Ireland attend schools that «are effectively segregated along religious lines.»
The peace deal signed in 1998 — known as the Good Friday Agreement or the Belfast Agreement — set up a new government that had representation for both nationalists and unionists.
It also established that Northern Ireland will remain part of the U.K. unless a majority of citizens vote to leave through a referendum.
Brexit reignited debate over Ireland’s future, with Northern Ireland voting to remain in the European Union even as the U.K. as a whole voted to leave. Still, no referendum has been proposed or scheduled on whether Northern Ireland should leave the United Kingdom.
Reuters contributed to this report.
ireland, donald trump, uk politics, united kingdom
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