Former President Joe Biden’s dream of a grand presidential library is hitting a financial brick wall, with projections so dismal they could make even the most optimistic Democrat wince.
According to Breitbart, the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library Foundation, launched in late 2024, is struggling to secure the necessary funds, projecting a mere $11.3 million by the end of 2027 against a lofty goal of $200 million, while donor fatigue and party frustrations further dim its prospects.
About a year after its inception, the foundation started with a modest $4 million from leftover funds of Biden’s 2021 inauguration, hardly a war chest for a project of this scale.
Shockingly, no new donations rolled in during 2024, leaving the foundation’s coffers embarrassingly stagnant. Even as late 2025 approached, Biden hadn’t hosted a single major fundraising event, a glaring omission for a project desperate for cash.
The first donor reception, set for the Monday after Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C.’s upscale Georgetown area, might be too little, too late to turn the tide.
Behind the scenes, donor fatigue and intra-party discontent are sabotaging efforts, with some top Democrat contributors openly refusing to chip in, citing mistreatment by Biden’s team.
Others are distracted by political battles, prioritizing efforts against President Donald Trump or nursing grudges over Biden’s tenure, including his controversial pardon of his son Hunter, which has left several donors threatening to close their wallets.
“He’ll be lucky to have a bookmobile,” quipped John Morgan, a longtime Democrat donor and bundler, in a biting remark to The New York Times that captures the skepticism surrounding Biden’s library ambitions.
Morgan’s jab stings all the more when you consider the foundation’s leadership—chaired by Democrat fundraiser Rufus Gifford and run by Biden’s close aides Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal—has yet to inspire confidence among the party’s big spenders.
Over the summer of 2025, the foundation brought in CCS Fundraising, a consulting firm, to evaluate its financial outlook, while in September, the Bidens sent out letters inviting potential supporters for 45-minute interviews to gauge interest—hardly the bold moves needed for a $200 million goal.
Compare this to the Obama Foundation, which has amassed over $1.5 billion for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, set to open in 2026, despite its own controversies over costs and community pushback.
Then there’s Trump, whose Miami library project, approved by the Florida Cabinet in September 2025, is already on track to raise nearly $1 billion with land and funds secured from legal settlements and private backers, promising a major civic draw.
While Trump’s vision takes shape and Obama’s center nears completion, Biden’s library remains a ghost—existing only on the National Archives website and as a corporate entity, with no physical site chosen, though Wilmington, Delaware, is in discussion.
Some of Biden’s own donors have floated merging the library with existing institutions at the University of Delaware, which has raised at least $22 million for “Biden Hall,” including $20 million from the state, but neither the university nor the foundation will comment on such a consolidation.