Donald Trump and Barack Obama continue to throw shade at each other, this time with the president taking jabs over his predecessor’s unfinished and long-awaited library and museum.

During the Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on May 6, Trump, a longtime New York real estate mogul, was discussing the difficulties of construction and took a detour rip on his reported troubles with the project.

“President Obama – and if he wanted help, I’d give him help because I’m a really good builder and I build on time, on budget – he’s building his library in Chicago, and it’s a disaster,” Trump said.

The Obama Presidential Center is an ambitious 19-acre project being built as a tribute to the former president in the heart of a South Side neighborhood. The construction is “near substantial completion,” according to the former president’s foundation, but it has been besieged by significant delays and has gone well over budget.

Its initial cost of $350 million, has ballooned to $830 million. The center was originally supposed to open in 2021, but last year officials announced it wouldn’t be open to the public until 2026.

But supporters say the center, which is privately funded, is aimed at revitalizing a historic public park in Chicago’s South Side with various community partners and projected to generate $3 billion in economic activity.

Plans for the facility include building a forum for local and international gatherings, an athletic center for the community, a walking trail, a great lawn, a sledding hill and a playground. It is projected to be a catalyst for economic development.

“Everyone who sees the Obama Presidential Center is blown away by its beauty, scale and the way it will be an economic engine for Chicago and a beacon of hope for the world,” Obama Foundation spokeswoman Emily Bittner told USA TODAY in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming all visitors to the 19.3-acre campus next spring, to experience a presidential center that not only honors the Obamas’ legacy but also lifts up the next generation of leaders.”

Trump’s critiques went further during the Oval Office meeting. He argued the Obama library’s woes were due to its emphasis on hiring local and minority-owned companies. The Obama Foundation has said that about 35% of subcontractors would be minority-owned businesses, 15% would be women-owned and 9% would be from the greater Chicago area.

“And (Obama) said something to the effect of, ‘I only want DEI. I only want woke.’ He wants woke people to build it,” Trump said. “Well, he’s got woke people.”

The project took a reputational hit earlier this year after a Black-owned subcontracting company filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against another contractor. But the foundation is not a party to that dispute, and officials said it would have no impact on the center’s opening timeline given it was filed after the work was completed.

Obama has been critical of Trump 2.0

The two men were cordial to one another at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter earlier this year, even sharing a laugh, but Obama hasn’t shied away from expressing his disapproval of Trump’s use of executive authority in his second term.

In April, for example, Obama encouraged universities and law firms to resist the administration’s actions and stick up for democratic values. He slammed the Trump administration for cancelling federal contracts to firms connected to political rivals and moving to block hundreds of millions for colleges and universities that refused to ban the use of masks and eliminate diversity programs, for example.

“That kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans,” he said, challenging the audience at Hamilton College in New York: “Imagine if I had done any of this.”

Obama also took a swipe at Trump for booting the Associated Press from official events in retaliation for the news agency’s refusal to adopt Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America.

“Imagine if I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps,” Obama said in April. “You’re laughing, but this is what’s happening.”

As of late, Trump, who pushed the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States a decade ago, has been somewhat complimentary of Obama. During the 2024 presidential campaign, for example, he referred to Obama as a “nice gentleman” whom he happened to “like and respect.”

When entertaining the unconstitutional idea of seeking a third term, Trump perked up at the idea of running against Obama.

“I’d love that, boy, I’d love that,” he said.

President Trump calls Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center “a disaster,” blames “woke” construction

Michelle Obama says ‘everyone would know’ if she divorced Barack Obama: ‘I’m not a martyr’

This is not the first time the “Becoming” on Netflix star has addressed viral rumors that her marriage with president No. 44 was ending, which first surfaced after she skipped President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

Michelle Obama said differences with Barack Obama make them more compatible

On the April 23 episode of “IMO” featuring Robinson and Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, Obama revealed why she decided to skip Trump’s second inaugural ceremony.

“My decision to skip the inauguration – or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me – were met with such ridicule and criticism,” Obama explained during the episode. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.

“I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me,” she added on “IMO.”

This year, amid Trump’s second stint in office, the former first lady has emerged as outspoken as ever – about her own marriage and own opinions – since leaving the White House in 2017. The Obamas married in Chicago in October 1992 and share two adult daughters, filmmaker Malia, 26, and 23-year-old University of Southern California alum Sasha.

Obama echoed her earlier comments about why she skipped the event to Bartlett in the “Diary of a CEO” episode.

“You know, as a box-checking person who has been checking her whole life, doing the right thing, trying to always be an example, always going high … I think I just told myself, ‘I think I’ve done enough of that,’ and if I haven’t, then I never will. It’ll never be enough. So let me start now,” Obama said.

But the Higher Ground co-founder said the differences in her and the former president’s respective personalities actually make them more compatible.

When “I met Barack Obama, he showed up in my life as the opposite of a box checker, but somebody that I describe in my book as an ‘ultimate swerver.’ He did nothing by the book,” she said. “He was brilliant and interesting.”

Barack Obama Honors Michelle Obama on Mother’s Day: ‘So Lucky to Have You’

Former president Barack Obama shared a touching and passionate message to Michelle Obama celebrating Mother’s Day. The message follows Mrs. Obama addressing divorce rumors and firmly shuts the door on discussing a split.

“Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms and mother-figures! @MichelleObama, the girls and I are so lucky to have you in our lives. We love you.”

You can see the message below.

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Michelle Obama wants the world to know that she and former president Barack Obama are not divorcing.

Appearing on Sophia Bush’s Work in Progress podcast, Obama revealed that her decision not to attend certain political events was not a reflection of her marriage but instead of supporting herself.

“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people,” Mrs. Obama said. “So much so that people, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”

You can hear the full episode below.

Mrs. Obama’s appearance comes after President Obama revealed that he is working through a few marital issues with his wife, Michelle Obama.

Speaking at Hamilton College, Obama revealed he “was in a deep deficit with my wife” after his run at the White House. He also offered, “I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”

Obama responded to the question of what he has been doing lately.

Additional details from Obama revealed that he devotes additional time to the Obama Foundation and finishing his presidential memoirs.

Today is Tuesday, May 13, the 133rd day of 2025. There are 232 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 13, 2016, the Obama administration issued a directive requiring public schools to permit transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

 

Also on this date:

In 1846, the United States Congress formally declared war against Mexico, following battles along the disputed U.S.-Mexico border in the preceding weeks; the Mexican-American War would continue for nearly two years until the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February 1848.

In 1940, in his first speech to the House of Commons as British prime minister, Winston Churchill said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

In 1973, in tennis’ first so-called “Battle of the Sexes,” Bobby Riggs defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in Ramona, California. (Billie Jean King soundly defeated Riggs at the Houston Astrodome later that year.)

In 1980, a tornado struck downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing five people and injuring 79.

 

In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Ağca. (Ağca was sentenced to life in prison in Italy in July 1981, but was pardoned in 2000 at the Pope’s request.)

In 1985, a confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as a police helicopter dropped two bombs onto the group’s row house, igniting a fire that killed 11 people (including five children) and destroyed 61 homes.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Harvey Keitel is 86. Musician Stevie Wonder is 75. Screenwriter-producer David Simon (“The Wire”) is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is 64. TV host/comedian Stephen Colbert is 61. Musician Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 59. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is 48. Actor Samantha Morton is 48. Actor-writer-director Lena Dunham is 39. Actor Robert Pattinson is 39. Actor Debby Ryan is 32. Country musician Morgan Wallen is 32.

Pres. Barack Obama coming to Hartford in June

During the event, Obama will discuss his historic presidency, current challenges facing the world, and his outlook for the future.

During the event, Obama will discuss his historic presidency and his current work with the Obama Foundation. He will also examine the challenges the world faces today and his outlook for the future.

Hartford Foundation President and CEO Jay Williams said with the country “experiencing so much division with many Americans losing their faith in government institutions,” they hope that the conversation with Obama will inspire all to “think about what shared values unite us.”

“And that working toward a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable society increases opportunity for our country to prosper,” Williams continued.