OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
4:00 PM – Wednesday, July 1, 2026

President Donald Trump delivered remarks after touring the newly opened Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, honoring the 26th president of the United States, “a man who embodied the heart and soul and fight and spirit of our country as much as anyone who ever lived,” according to Trump.

On Wednesday afternoon, after taking the new Air Force One aircraft for its inaugural flight, he boarded the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) “Freedom 250 Train,” which took him to Medora, North Dakota, where a reenactment regiment of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders greeted him.

Trump said he had long admired President Theodore Roosevelt, admitting in jest, “I don’t admire too many people.”

He also praised Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who previously served as the governor of the Roughrider State, for championing and raising funds for the project.

The president explained that near the end of his first term, he signed a bill that directed the U.S. Forest Service to sell the 90.3 acres of land in Medora, North Dakota, where the library was built.

“It was a privilege to sign the bill that helped get this incredible project underway and transferring 90 acres. We took it right out of the federal government, we ripped it away from the federal government, they don’t know it’s missing — they still haven’t figured out what the hell happened,” Trump said jokingly. “I was over there [maybe] two hours,” he continued, pointing toward the library, “I know more about that museum than the people that built it. But that’s okay because they did a very good job.”

The president also highlighted the Panama Canal as one of the most stunning — and, adjusted for inflation, most expensive — triumphs of the Roosevelt administration. He noted that disease, primarily malaria, claimed roughly 38,000 lives during its construction. He also criticized late Democrat President Jimmy Carter’s 1999 decision to transfer control of the canal to Panama.

“It was the most expensive thing we ever built, and it was also the most profitable thing we ever built. That’s a nice combination,” he commented, likening the profitability of the canal to his efforts in Venezuela.

Veering off-script, Trump warned that China is currently attempting to seize control of the Panama Canal — something he vowed he would not allow. He then pivoted to America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, hailing this week’s celebrations leading up to Friday’s signing of the Declaration of Independence milestone.

“This week, we look back on 250 years of glorious freedom, and we took so much time, and so much effort — and by the way, on July 4th, it’s going to be approximately 107 degrees out and I’m gonna go and I’m gonna make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything,” he said.

Trump also outlined five lessons Americans can draw from the life of “TR” — the first U.S. president widely known by his initials.

His first lesson emphasized unyielding determination, pointing to Roosevelt’s legendary 1912 campaign stop where he was shot in the chest but refused to back down. Despite the bullet lodged in his ribs, the “Bull Moose” party candidate insisted on delivering a grueling 90-minute address.

“His pursuit of the American Dream never ever stopped,” Trump said, noting that he was “plagued by Asthma.”

“He was told by his doctor that he’d have to live very quietly … and he did just the opposite. He had a frickin’ wild life,” Trump remarked.

Continuing to expound upon Roosevelt’s persistence, he referenced the Mark Twain quote, “If you love your job, you will never work a day in your life.”

“People say I work hard, but it’s not work, because … I love making America great again,” Trump continued.

The second lesson centered on courage, with Trump highlighting Roosevelt’s daring exploits tracking grizzly bears.

Ironically, those wild encounters eventually linked the president inextricably to the “Teddy bear” — the toy famously named after a nickname he went on to despise. The name had been a private term of endearment used by his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee. After her tragic and sudden death in 1884, hearing the name became incredibly painful for him, and he completely dropped it from his personal life.

“Freedom is not a gift that lasts long in the hands of cowards,” the “Bull Moose” famously said.

Third, Roosevelt “refused to accept failure, mediocrity, corruption, decay, or decline, and neither should we.”