For a president, being forgotten may be the harshest judgment of all—and Joe Biden increasingly appears to be facing that possibility.
Barack Obama’s $850 million presidential center opened in Chicago in June to enormous public attention. Donald Trump’s planned $1 billion presidential library, an imposing gold-clad project expected to rise in the Miami area, is also set to command the spotlight.
Biden, by contrast, may struggle to secure funding for a major presidential library building at all.
“No real library will ever be built,” one prominent Democratic donor told the Daily Mail. “Sadly, for him, that ship has sailed.”
The former president has reportedly faced resistance from donors and criticism from Democrats who blame his inner circle for political missteps and what they view as a failure to protect his legacy.
Records from the Biden administration remain in the custody of the National Archives, where they are being managed from room 1501 on the first floor of a government facility in Maryland. Their eventual home remains uncertain.
Joe Biden faces the prospect of a modest presidential library compared with the planned centers associated with Barack Obama and Donald Trump
Large crowds attended the opening of Barack Obama’s presidential center in Chicago in June
The latest tax filing from the Joe and Jill Biden Presidential Library Foundation shows that it held $4 million in funding during the 2024 financial year. The money reportedly consisted entirely of funds remaining from the unsuccessful 2024 campaign.
The foundation reported spending only $21,348 on equipment, according to the filing. A separate tax document indicated that it was targeting $11.3 million in fundraising—a relatively small sum beside the ambitions associated with the Obama and Trump projects. The foundation’s 2025 return was due May 15, 2026, but had not been submitted. Tax-exempt organizations can obtain an automatic six-month extension.
“I can’t speak for other donors, only myself, but I will not be contributing to it,” major Democratic donor John Morgan told the Daily Mail in a statement.
“While I still have deep respect for the man I once knew, his legacy was tarnished by the decisions of those closest to him.”
Many critics share that view, arguing that Biden’s advisers encouraged him to pursue reelection in 2024 despite longstanding concerns about his age and ability to campaign effectively.
Those concerns intensified after the first presidential debate against Donald Trump, when Biden’s widely criticized performance triggered a political crisis within the Democratic Party.
Christina Aguilera performs during the ceremony marking the opening of the Obama Presidential Center
An AI-generated image depicts renderings of the proposed Donald J. Trump Presidential Library and Museum in Miami
Early plans for Biden’s presidential library reportedly envisioned raising several hundred million dollars to build an “immersive museum” focused on his life and administration.
In September last year, Biden announced that the library would be located in his home state of Delaware. However, no specific site has been publicly confirmed.
Documents obtained by Spotlight Delaware from the Wilmington mayor’s office through freedom-of-information laws show that city officials have been communicating with Biden representatives. The mayor’s office declined to provide the records to the Daily Mail, saying the request did not come from a Delaware resident.
The documents indicate that, in March last year, a Biden official contacted the mayor’s office and said the team was “working to get the lay of the land regarding potential sites in Wilmington.” The representatives also sought information about the city’s economic-development plans.
The Biden team was particularly interested in an area called Riverfront East along the Christina River and asked for a ‘deep dive’ into it.
Two weeks later there was a meeting in Wilmington between city and Biden officials.
A 38-page presentation produced by the city showed how Riverfront East had been transformed by the state-funded Riverfront Development Corporation using financial incentives to stimulate private investment.
Biden’s team has expressed an interest in a site at the Christina River in Wilmington, Delaware
Biden’s presidential records are currently stored at a National Archives site in Maryland
It said zoning laws would allow for a maximum six-story building.
The plan also said there was ‘an availability of construction funding,’ with $48 million of $60 million allocated to the area by the state of Delaware spent so far.
The Mayor of Wilmington’s office did not respond to a request from the Daily Mail on whether that meant state taxpayer money could be used toward any library project.
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The Presidential Libraries Act of 1955 bans federal funds, but not state ones, being used to build presidential libraries.
Also detailed in the presentation was an area in downtown Wilmington near the former headquarters of MBNA, the financial services company
Biden was once dubbed the ‘Senator for MBNA’ because it was his biggest donor during his time in the Senate, and also hired his son Hunter when he was in his 20s.
A separate cost-effective option for the eventual home of Biden’s presidential documents is his alma mater, the University of Delaware.
The University of Delaware, where there is already a Biden School, may provide a home for a Biden presidential library
Biden’s senatorial papers are stored at the University of Delaware, where Biden studied
It already has his records from his time in the Senate and as Vice President, and in 2018 opened the Joseph R Biden, Jr School of Public Policy and Administration, raising the possibility of housing the presidential documents in an existing building.
In February, Biden joined members of the 13-strong board he has appointed to oversee the library project for a private dinner at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.
The only record of the event appeared to be a brief Instagram post by his daughter Ashley.
‘I am grateful to all who acknowledge, celebrate, and honor Dads lifetime of public service,’ she wrote.
The office of the Joseph R Biden Jr. Presidential Library at the National Archives Records Administration in Maryland said it does not handle funding or construction issues.
‘To date, President Biden has not indicated his intentions with regard to a Presidential Library,’ a representative told the Daily Mail.
The Office of Joe and Jill Biden did not respond to a request for comment on how much has been raised, or whether a site has been chosen.
Biden himself has been focused on his book Promise Me, America, which is due out after the midterms on November 17.
Biden attended the star-studded opening of Barack Obama’s presidential museum in June
Donors remain irate at him for his decision to attempt to run for a second term in his 80s, which ultimately led to Kamala Harris taking over and being defeated by Donald Trump.
Amid lingering frustration, insiders say money that could have gone to Biden’s library project is being directed instead to Democratic campaigns in the midterms.
One official who worked with Biden in the White House previously told the Daily Mail he was ‘selfish,’ had found the presidency ‘intoxicating,’ and surrounded himself with advisers who were not ‘willing to speak truth to power.’
‘They did the country a disservice, but ultimately, the buck stops with him, and he bears the responsibility for what was a very reckless decision,’ they said.
The Presidential Library system began in 1939 when President Franklin D Roosevelt gave his records to the government and donors raised money for a library.
Since then, all presidents have taken similar measures to preserve their legacy, with some magnificent buildings created in the process.
Biden’s book is due out after the midterms and he is said to have been focused on it in recent months
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library pictured in Simi Valley, California
The privately funded cost for the buildings has soared exponentially, even before Obama and Trump.
In 1997, the George HW Bush library cost $43 million. Bill Clinton’s was $165 million, and George W Bush’s $500 million.
Delaware Governor Matt Meyer has previously welcomed Biden’s decision to base his library there.
Meyer said: ‘To Delaware, he will always be our favorite. The new presidential library here in Delaware will give future generations the chance to see his story of resilience, family and never forgetting your roots.’