President Donald Trump was in Medora, North Dakota, on Wednesday to help open the presidential library of one of his heroes: President Theodore Roosevelt.
While Roosevelt was from New York, he had a special connection to that area of North Dakota. He first went there in 1883 to hunt buffalo, but then came back in 1884 when he was 25 and needed some time to grieve after his wife died from a kidney ailment, and his mother died of typhoid on the same day in the same house in New York.
Teddy credited North Dakota for making him strong and turning him into "The Man in the Arena" - one of his most famous speeches that truly spoke to who he was - the man who "dared greatly." The most famous part:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
The area also sparked Roosevelt's great love of nature and conservation.
Some see similarities with Trump in terms of strength of personality and in foreign policy, in some ways.
Trump arrived by the Freedom250 train, greeted by the Rough Riders.
Very cool arrival ceremony for President Trump at Teddy Roosevelt’s Presidential Library opening today. pic.twitter.com/b5VzfHdGwE
— Mike Carter (@MikeCarterTV) July 1, 2026
26 Roughriders to honor our 26th President! It doesn’t get more American than this. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/M9PRPfcowf
— Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (@RepFedorchak) July 1, 2026
Trump certainly got an enthusiastic welcome.
The People’s President! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aazsPAubHe
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) July 1, 2026
North Dakota!!! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/mlydQ0OHWn
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) July 1, 2026
.@POTUS at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library dedication: "Today, we come to the heartland of America to pay tribute to a man who embodied the heart, and soul, and fight, and spirit of our country as much as anyone who ever lived... President Theodore Roosevelt." 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/782VFEIHl5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 1, 2026
Trump cut the ribbon for the library along with Secretary of the Interior (and former North Dakota governor) Doug Burgum.
.@POTUS cuts the ribbon to officially open the Theodore Roosevelt Library in North Dakota for the first time! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/S9xa0PyjDn
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) July 1, 2026
The White House said that Trump visited the following exhibits: train exhibit, journal exhibit, campfire exhibit, AI President Theodore Roosevelt exhibit and "Man in the Arena" speech exhibit.
This was Trump talking with AI Teddy, which was pretty wild.
.@POTUS interacts with AI President Theodore Roosevelt at the Theodore Roosevelt Library in North Dakota 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4ISRo2Tsbj
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) July 1, 2026
Trump asked Teddy if he thought the Panama Canal was his greatest achievement. His answer was interesting, a bit of a nuanced response.
President Trump asks AI President Roosevelt…“Do you consider the Panama Canal your greatest achievement?” pic.twitter.com/zvfDCL2sKS
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) July 1, 2026
How cool was that?
Trump linked that to the present day, saying that he wasn't going to let China take over the Panama Canal, after all their actions in the region.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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