Ok, a thread about why there won’t be a real Donald J. Trump Presidential Library. #trumplibrary 1/x

Let’s get our definitions straight. By “presidential library” I mean a facility owned & operated by the @USNatArchives for the primary purpose of housing the Federal records & state gifts of a presidency. These records & objects are by le the property of the American people. 2/x

There is a Federal law that dictates the process for building a National Archives (NARA) presidential library. The library building itself is built to strict NARA standards using private money & then it is “given” to NARA & staffed by government archivists & curators. 3/x

Additionally, a law passed in 2008 requires an endowment to be given to NARA in the amount of 60% of total construction costs for the long term maintenance of the facility. So, a library costing $500 million requires an endowment of $300 million. 4/x

NARA works closely with a former president, family & the foundation established to raise the money to guide the design, location selection, etc. of the library. A president will want a museum as part of the library as well as a center for the foundation’s activities. 5/x

Often, the property is legally divided up like a checkerboard between NARA & the foundation. But, the principle that NARA maintains the federal records & objects is sacrosanct. NARA has to have a government presence. 6/x

The whole point is to provide a place for researchers to use the archival records and the public to come and learn from exhibits & programs that are at least in pet guided by the historical record & the government professionals staffing the library & museum operations. 7/x

Now, why there won’t be a Trump Library. First, there won’t be an Obama Library. The @USNatArchives & the current Archivist of the United States @dferriero has made it very clear that they’re out of the new presidential library business. 8/x

For Obama, they’re following a “new model” for a library which isn’t a library at all...it’s a website. They struck a deal with the @ObamaFoundation to have the foundation pay for private contractors to digitize the millions of pages of paper Obama records. 9/x

The idea being that at some point in the distant future, these (along with born digital records) will all be made available online. The original records will go into a giant NARA warehouse. NARA is not involved in the building of ANY Obama Library or museum. 10/x

So NARA has taken itself out of the presidential library business, at least as far as working with a presidential foundation to build a building to house the federal records. That’s reason #1 for no Trump Library. 11/x

Reason #2: can you honestly believe that Trump is going to raise $500 million or more to build a building that has to be turned over to the government to own and operate, PLUS another 60% of that for an endowment? No. 12/x

Reason #3: Do you think Trump and his family would agree to have government employees that they didn’t choose be involved in the crafting of exhibits that strive to tell a historically accurate story of the Trump Presidency? No. 13/

Reason #4: The building would have to be built to strict NARA standards & presuming Florida is the location, there would have to be special features (probably expensive & unattractive ones) to protect the facility from hurricanes & floods. These would impact aesthetics. No. 14/x

And Reason #5: Trump doesn’t give a sh*t about the archival record or researchers or history. He simply doesn’t have skin in the game or a desire to have the record of his presidency accurately told or closely examined. 15/x

Trump may grift his supporters, build a building, put some stuff in it, and call it his “library”. But it will be like everything else he’s built...flashy on the outside with little substance on the inside. And people will go to it. For sure. 16/x

But it will not be a presidential library. The era of those is over. I fundamentally disagree with the decision of the @USNatArchives to stop partnering on real, bricks & mortar libraries. There is value in them to our democracy, even if they cover a presidency like Trumps. 17/x

But I am as certain of his as I am of anything: there will be no Donald J. Trump Presidential Library. Just like there will be no @BarackObama Presidential Library. And for that, we’re all worse off. Fin. 18/x

Postscript: thanks for all the Twitter love for this thread & for forgiving any spelling & punctuation errors. It was written quickly & in an under caffeinated state. Stay tuned for another thread on a related subject. Coming soon! 19/19