Millions meant to help cement a presidential legacy in Chicago have taken a curious detour.
Reports reveal that the Obama Foundation, tasked with constructing a grand presidential center, redirected $2 million in donations from 2022 and 2023 to the Tides Foundation, a progressive fund with ties to contentious causes, raising eyebrows, considering the intended purpose of those community-focused dollars, as the New York Post reports.
Let’s start at the beginning: the Obama Foundation, launched by former President Barack Obama, aims to build a sprawling 19-acre campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park on the South Side, complete with a museum, athletic facility, and even fruit and vegetable gardens.
Construction on the Obama Presidential Center kicked off in 2021, but it’s been plagued by setbacks, ballooning past its initial $500 million budget to over $615 million spent so far, with an opening slated for spring 2026.
While the project stumbles, local voices like Ken Woodward, a lawyer and father of six who grew up nearby, aren’t holding back: “It’s a monstrosity … it’s taking way too long to finish.”
Woodward’s frustration stings, and it’s hard not to wonder if this towering project is overshadowing the very neighborhood it claims to uplift, especially when funds are being siphoned elsewhere.
Enter the $2 million rerouted to the Tides Foundation, a group described as a “dark money” hub that sponsors organizations not registered as charities with the IRS, per federal tax filings from the Obama Foundation.
These funds were supposedly earmarked to support local efforts to curb community violence, a noble goal, but sending them to Tides, which is backed by Democrat mega-donor George Soros, raises serious questions about transparency.
After all, Tides isn’t just any fund; it’s managed donations for groups like the Adalah Justice Project and Samidoun, which have fueled pro-Palestinian protests at elite universities like Columbia following the tragic October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that claimed 1,200 Israeli lives.
Tides’ involvement with anti-Israel groups has landed it in the crosshairs of the House Ways and Means Committee, casting a shadow over the decision to funnel donor money its way.
Beyond that, Tides has also handled funds for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which is currently suing Tides in California Superior Court over alleged mismanagement of over $33 million -- an ongoing legal mess that doesn’t inspire confidence.
Meanwhile, the Obama Foundation also granted over $3 million in the same period to Gofundme.org for vague initiatives to empower girls through education, leaving more questions than answers about where donor dollars are truly going.
Financially, the Obama Foundation’s books show it received just $129,320 in donations in 2022 while shelling out over $27 million on salaries -- a ratio that might make even the most generous donor wince.
Top brass aren’t exactly scraping by, with CEO Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to Obama, earning over $750,000 in 2023, and executive VP Robbin Cohen pulling in nearly $650,000, while board member Penny Pritzker, closely linked to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, takes no salary.
Attempts to get clarity from the Obama Foundation or the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama have hit a brick wall, with no responses to inquiries as of Thursday, leaving the public to wonder if this is stewardship or a shell game.
