Trump brings together Medals of Honor of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. for first time

OAN Staff Addie Davis and Brooke Mallory
2:40 PM – Wednesday, July 1, 2026

President Donald Trump participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, as part of the ongoing celebrations honoring 250 years of American independence.

In honor of the occasion, Trump presented President Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor, which had been on display in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The “Rough Riders” commander remains the only United States president to have received the award.

His son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., an Army brigadier general, also received the Medal of Honor, making them one of only two father-son pairs to have both received the country’s highest honor. Wednesday’s ceremony brought the medals together for the first time, according to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who joined Trump in cutting the ribbon.

Additionally, among the guests in attendance was retired Navy SEAL Master Chief Britt Slabinski, a fellow Medal of Honor recipient who was personally awarded the nation’s highest military decoration by Trump in 2018 for his valor during the Battle of Takur Ghar in Afghanistan. As a member of the exclusive fraternity of living recipients, Slabinski’s participation exemplified the deep connective tissue between generations of service members who have earned the honor, standing alongside officials to witness the father-son decorations brought together for the first time.

“When I heard about this, I said, ‘Maybe we’ll think about it it,'” Trump said about deciding to gift the medal. “Then I saw what you did and what a magnificent library you built. It’s really a library; it’s a museum; it’s a center; and it’s a great tribute.”

Along with Burgum, Trump toured the 96,000-square-foot facility after riding on the “Freedom 250 Train” to Medora, where he was met with a crowd of supporters and chants of “USA! USA! USA!”

“A historic event celebrating the enduring legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose time in the North Dakota Badlands helped shape both his character and his vision for the nation,” the Freedom 250 event site stated.

“Set against the rugged landscape that inspired one of America’s greatest conservationists, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Celebration will honor Roosevelt’s commitment to stewardship of the land, public service, American leadership, and the pioneering spirit that defines our nation,” it continued.

After participating in the opening ceremony, Trump made his way to the Burning Hills Amphitheater to give remarks.

In his address, Trump praised Roosevelt as a leader with an “unyielding sense of America’s destiny” who “refused to accept failure, mediocrity, corruption, decay, or decline.”

On the policy front, Trump also briefly touched on Roosevelt’s legacy by mentioning he had used a digital artificial intelligence (AI) version of Roosevelt at the library to ask about the Panama Canal, using the anecdote to suggest that the U.S. should look into taking back control of the waterway to curb Chinese influence.

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