The Obama Foundation has yet to fulfill its pledge to create a $470 million reserve fund meant to shield taxpayers if the Obama Presidential Center runs into trouble, according to recent tax filings, which show millions instead going to the Tides Foundation.
When the 19.3-acre section of land in a public Chicago park was acquired for just $10 in 2018 under a 99-year deal, the construction of the presidential library required the creation of an endowment fund to spare taxpayers should the project ever go belly up.
The latest available tax filings indicate that the foundation, founded by former President Barack Obama, has only deposited $1 million — 0.21% of the pledged funds — since the construction site was broken in September 2021, and has not added to it since.
Although the foundation’s agreement with the city required the creation of an endowment, it did not set a specific amount. The $470 million figure emerged during city council deliberations and was later confirmed by the foundation in its 2020 annual report.
The Obama Presidential Center was conceptualized as a campus, including a museum, library, athletic facility, and fruit and vegetable gardens to act as a community space in commemoration of the 44th president of the United States.
Amid reports that the endowment remains largely unfunded, Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi criticized the project as an “abomination” and condemned Democrats for potentially putting taxpayers at risk with the deal.
A long-developing plan to protect South Side residents from rising rents and displacement tied to the Obama Presidential Center is headed to the City Council for a vote after clearing committee on Wednesday.
Construction in the section of Jackson Park, often described as Chicago’s equivalent of Central Park, has been slow. The project’s estimated cost has ballooned from $330 million to at least $850 million, potentially leaving Chicagoans on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Records further indicate that in 2022 and 2023, the foundation sent $2 million to the Tides Foundation. The Tides Foundation, also funded by Democratic mega-donor George Soros, is a network that operates as a fiscal sponsor for groups that have not registered with the IRS as charities.
The $2 million was granted to over 50 organizations nationwide to help reduce “surging summer violence” and provide “safe spaces” for young people, a spokeswoman for the Obama Foundation told the New York Post.
The Tides Center, part of the larger Tides network, is under House Ways and Means Committee scrutiny for supporting anti-Israel groups like the Adalah Justice Project, Palestine Legal, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, and the Catalyst Project. It provided fiscal sponsorship to organizations promoting pro-Hamas messaging and organizing potentially illegal protests, including post–October 7 demonstrations and college encampments following the Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis.
In addition to sending donations to Tides, the Obama Foundation has sent more than $3 million in 2022 and 2023 in grants to Gofundme.org for undisclosed “grassroots leaders to empower girls through education,” according to the group’s filings.
“It should come as no surprise that the Obama Center is potentially leaving Illinois taxpayers high and dry — it’s an Illinois Democrat tradition,” Salvi told Fox News Digital.
DEMOCRATS AND TRUMP DIG IN ON SHUTDOWN DEMANDS
The Obama Foundation’s latest tax return further revealed financial strain marked by volatile year-to-year revenue, fundraising shortfalls, and unfulfilled donor pledges.
Meanwhile, the foundation admitted it has so far spent more than $615 million building the Obama Presidential Center, which is scheduled to open in spring 2026, according to its website.
