The formal opening of the Obama Presidential Center this Thursday in Chicago was a hot mess from beginning to end.
It began with a “land acknowledgement” kicked off by former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett.
“We’d also like to take a moment to recognize the original inhabitants of the land upon which we are gathered today,” she said. “We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi nations.”
The Obama center opening opens with a land acknowledgement:
“We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi Nations.” pic.twitter.com/aR9oM8Ee2t
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 18, 2026
The opening continued with performances from leftist entertainers, including Bruce Springsteen and John Legend.
But missing from both the opening launch and the sycophantic establishment media’s coverage of it was any mention of all the subcontractors who’ve been allegedly screwed over by former President Barack Hussein Obama.
A number of subcontractors who were hired to complete the project have since claimed they are still owed hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in unpaid labor/construction costs.
Included among the subcontractors is Mike Owen, whose company, Adamson Plumbing, is still reportedly owed nearly $4 million for the work it completed on the presidential center.
“That is a hole that no subcontractor, small business can survive,” Owen told Fox News.
Listen:
OBAMA CENTER SUBCONTRACTOR: “We’re crushed.”
On the ground in Chicago, Mike Owen told me his company is nearly $4 million in the red
after working on the Obama Presidential Center.
“I feel like an aluminum can that’s been thrown in front of a steamroller.”
“Our… pic.twitter.com/sKB1TZkPxN
— Michael Dorgan (@M_Dorgan) June 18, 2026
According to several other subcontractors whom Fox News spoke with, the whole process has been bad thanks to what the network described as “repeated design changes, rework, scheduling disruptions, extensive oversight and years-long compensation disputes that still remain unresolved.”
Owen explained that construction on the presidential center took far longer than anticipated, causing his company to waste millions in labor/overhead costs as the project’s parameters kept changing.
“He said the losses have drained the company’s reserves, created uncertainty for employees and could ultimately force layoffs,” according to Fox News.
The stress has also affected his health.
“I haven’t had eight hours or six hours sleep in over a year,” he told Fox News. “I’m cooked emotionally. I feel like an aluminum can that’s been thrown in front of a steamroller. We’re crushed. And I have to fight for my company and for my people.”
Meanwhile, he’s had to watch as celebrities who worship Obama celebrated the launch of the center.
“It was kind of hard seeing some local and national celebrities high-fiving and back-slapping here about the work that’s been done,” Owen said. “The backdrop of a coming celebration is kind of hard to swallow for me and for some of my peers at the moment.”
But he stressed that he’s only speaking out now after months of failed attempts to get paid.
“As for me and my company, I’m at the end of my rope and I see no other choice than to have to tell my story,” he said. “This is not to embarrass anybody, but this is just to make sure that the truth gets told out here of what has happened to the companies that poured their heart and soul into getting this job complete and operational.”
Omar Shareef, the president of the African American Contractors Association, added that many of the subcontractors, particularly the black ones, are afraid to speak out because of all the Obama worship.
Listen:
MILLIONS OWED: Some minority-owned and local subcontractors who helped build the Obama Presidential Center say they’re owed millions and face financial ruin as the campus prepares to open on Juneteenth.
A Fox News Digital investigation found claimed losses ranging from hundreds… pic.twitter.com/Gq8j4TBrSg
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 17, 2026
“They are scared to death about talking about it,” he said. “I’ve never seen this happen since I’ve been in business. The building does look nice, but the fact doesn’t matter that they’re not paying our damn contractors.”
Shareef also called out the irony and hypocrisy of the presidential center being billed as a boon for black people, even as black subcontractors are getting screwed.
“The promise was that this project was going to uplift minority contractors and uplift the community,” he said. “What sense is celebrating Juneteenth if our Black contractors are not getting their money? Some of the people have put their mortgages up, they’re going to lose their bonding… they are going to lose their relationship with their supplier as well as their banker.”
“That’s a bad signal to put out the fact that seven to eight to maybe 10 of our contractors in our community are going to be eliminated from doing business because of the debt that they incurred on this particular project. If they would have known it was a Trojan horse or a Pandora’s box, I don’t know if they would have raced as much as they did to be a part of it,” he added.
