{"id":274354,"date":"2026-05-17T18:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274354\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T18:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:07:19","slug":"desantis-brushes-off-lawsuit-on-trump-librarys-valuable-miami-real-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274354\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis Brushes Off Lawsuit on Trump Library\u2019s Valuable Miami Real Estate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida<\/a> Governor Ron DeSantis<\/a> brushed off a new lawsuit<\/a> accusing him, other Florida officials, and the president, of violating the U.S. Constitution<\/a> over the transfer of Miami<\/a> land for President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s future presidential library.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know really what the lawsuit would be,” the Republican governor and Trump ally told\u00a0The Miami Herald, adding that the land is not going to the president as an individual, but rather the foundation. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Jerry Greenberg, legal counsel for the plaintiffs in the case, told Newsweek in an email Saturday, “Florida\u2019s gift of valuable land to President Trump blatantly violates this law at the expense of Miami Dade College and the residents of Miami.”<\/p>\n

The lawsuit presents another legal challenge to the administration, and one that may test the constitutional limits of states providing incentives or financial benefits to a sitting president through projects tied to presidential libraries and private development. It also adds to ongoing scrutiny surrounding Trump\u2019s business dealings and fundraising efforts while in office, particularly as critics argue the project could ultimately function as a luxury commercial venture rather than a traditional public archive.<\/p>\n

Newsweek\u00a0has reached out to\u00a0DeSantis\u2019 office,\u00a0the White House and the presidential library for comment via email on Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FloridaWhat\u00a0the\u00a0Lawsuit\u00a0Says\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last fall, Miami Dade College (MDC) transferred the property, which at the time was appraised at $67 million to the Florida Board. DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approved turning over the 2.63 acres of downtown Miami property to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc.,\u00a0to\u00a0establish\u00a0the president\u2019s post-administration archives and museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several Miami residents, including a current MDC college student, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Trump, DeSantis, MDC\u00a0and other Florida officials, alleging the donation of land for a future Trump presidential library violates the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Constitution works to preserve presidential\u00a0independence, barring the president from\u00a0receiving\u00a0\u201cany other Emolument from the United States\u201d during their presidential term.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Emoluments Clause bars a president from using his public office for private gain,” Greenberg told Newsweek. <\/p>\n

The plaintiffs argue Florida lawmakers violated this by giving \u201cthe President a piece of state-owned property worth hundreds of millions of dollars,\u201d later\u00a0identifying\u00a0the property as likely to \u201csell for over $300 million on the open market,\u201d and noting that “Trump paid nothing for it.”\u00a0It also notes the\u00a0initial\u00a0appraisal was undervalued and had MDC sold the property, \u201cit would have been transformative for the institution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of Defendants\u2019 conduct, other states have been forced into an arms race in which they must either compete with Florida to lavish gifts on the President or fear being unfairly disadvantaged \u2014 the precise scenario that the Domestic Emoluments Clause was adopted to prevent,\u201d the lawsuit states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs\u00a0seek the court to declare \u201cnull and void the land transaction that resulted in the Domestic Emoluments Clause violations and Plaintiffs\u2019 harms.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump\u2019s husband, Michael Boulos, and Trump attorney James Kiley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheWhat Did Governor DeSantis Say About\u00a0the\u00a0Lawsuit\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t\u00a0know really\u00a0what the lawsuit would be,\u201d DeSantis told the Miami Herald. \u201cIt\u2019s the foundation that is going to be running this, they\u2019re trying to say it’s a personal benefit to the president.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added that the library will be affiliated with MDC, saying,\u00a0\u201cThe others\u2014Bush, Clinton, these others\u2014were with universities.\u00a0So\u00a0to be able to have Miami Dade College be involved in that is really a unique opportunity.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The governor continued:\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know that\u2019s\u00a0how these things end up typically being. But I know for us, we view it as a good opportunity for education and culture, and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0really excited\u00a0to have Miami Dade College involved in that.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What Has Trump Said About\u00a0the\u00a0Library?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the Oval Office in late March, Trump said, \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a library.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a museum.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0presidential\u2026 but I\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0start it till\u00a0I’m\u00a0out of the office. I\u00a0don’t\u00a0believe in building libraries or museums.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He later posted a video showing the design of his planned presidential library, including a tower, in a Truth Social post. The following day he told reporters the presidential tower could also include other features beyond a library,\u00a0saying<\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0gonna\u00a0be\u00a0most likely a\u00a0hotel, you know? This concept could be office, but it\u2019s most likely\u00a0gonna\u00a0be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Presidential libraries are archives and museums that hold documents and artifacts of a president and the president\u2019s administration for the public to access, according to the National Archives website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump further remarked, \u201cThey say it\u2019s the best block in Miami, and the state worked with us,” a quote the plantiff’s cited in their lawsuit. <\/p>\n

Trump has two resort properties in the area, one on the beach and another in Doral.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where Will\u00a0the\u00a0Trump\u00a0Presidential Library Be?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lot at the center of the dispute is\u00a0located\u00a0on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown<\/a> Miami, next to the Freedom Tower and across from the Kaseya Center, home of the NBA\u2019s Miami Heat.\u00a0The land was used for an MDC employee parking lot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis brushed off a new lawsuit accusing him, other Florida officials, and the president, of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4033,409,28,833,123,125,124,480,412],"class_list":["post-274354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-constitution","tag-donald-trump","tag-florida","tag-lawsuit","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-real-estate","tag-ron-desantis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}