Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center Monday after former President Barack Obama mocked President Donald Trump’s White House renovations at a Cleveland campaign rally.
Fox Business reported Bessent made the remark after lunch at a Cheesecake Factory in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 26. Bessent called the museum “Darth Vader’s tomb,” the outlet said. Fox Business also reported that he recommended the restaurant to people in Obama’s circle and ordered a French dip cheeseburger.
At the Cleveland rally on Saturday, Oct. 24, Obama campaigned for Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, according to the Associated Press. Obama used Trump’s renovation work to challenge the president’s priorities while discussing costs, the AP reported. He joked that the White House looked as if “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” according to the AP. EconoTimes previously covered Trump’s response to Obama’s renovation remarks.
The White House’s July 2025 announcement described a planned ballroom of about 90,000 square feet, with seats for 650 people. It said Trump and other donors had committed about $200 million for construction, while the Secret Service would provide security modifications.
The Obama Presidential Center opened to the public in June 2026, the Obama Foundation says. The Foundation describes the museum building as 225 feet tall and made with granite and stone. Its audited statements listed $908,852,902 in construction in progress on Dec. 31, 2025, a balance that does not represent the campus’s final cost. In an Oct. 15 report, Fox News Digital quoted Obama Foundation Vice President of Communications Emily Bittner estimating total campus construction costs at about $1 billion, funded through private contributions. The audited figure and later estimate refer to different dates and measures.
The exchange comes ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. The AP said Ohio and Michigan races are among contests that could shape political control in Washington.
