{"id":68522,"date":"2025-12-02T21:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T21:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/68522\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T21:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T21:02:07","slug":"miami-dade-college-revotes-to-give-away-miami-land-for-donald-trump-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/68522\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Dade College revotes to give away Miami land for Donald Trump library"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miami Dade College\u2019s Board of Trustees<\/a> has again approved the transfer of more than 2.6 acres of prime downtown Miami land for Donald Trump\u2019s planned presidential library.<\/p>\n

The Board OK\u2019d the move unanimously for a second time, despite a still-pending lawsuit<\/a> alleging that the public college violated Florida\u2019s Sunshine Law during its first vote in September.<\/p>\n

Held at MDC\u2019s campus in Hialeah, the Board\u2019s redo meeting drew dozens of students, faculty, alumni and activists who delivered comments for more than 3 1\/2 hours. Many spoke against the transfer, calling it a misuse of public assets that could harm the college\u2019s ability to grow and fundraise.<\/p>\n

Supporters, meanwhile, argued the library would bring tourism and economic benefits.<\/p>\n

The land in question sits directly across Biscayne Boulevard from the historic Freedom Tower. The college purchased it in 2004 for close to $25 million. Today, some real estate experts value it at more than $300 million.<\/p>\n

By deeding the parcel to the state, which then passed it<\/a> to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation, MDC will receive no compensation for the land.<\/p>\n

Trustees said the arrangement is consistent with how presidential libraries are typically sited. MDC Board member Rober Alonso, who was appointed<\/a> by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2020, described the move as beneficial to students and the community. Presidential libraries, he said, \u201cadd to what the college offers\u201d by supporting research and cultural use.<\/p>\n

Opponents contended that the deal prioritized politics over education. Philip Stoddard, a former Mayor of South Miami who teaches biology at Florida International University, warned the decision could damage donor trust and jeopardize endowment support.<\/p>\n

Others said placing a Trump-named project across from the Freedom Tower, which once served as a processing center for Cuban refugees, was either tone deaf or deliberately insensitive, considering the President\u2019s sweeping immigration policies that have affected many local families.<\/p>\n

The second vote<\/a> followed intense backlash to the September Board meeting at which the initial transfer was approved. Historian Marvin Dunn then sued, accusing the college of failing to properly inform the public which property was under consideration or why.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mabel Ruiz later ruled Dunn had a substantial likelihood of success and temporarily blocked the transfer while the case advances. A state appeals court declined to intervene.<\/p>\n

Dunn spoke at Tuesday\u2019s session and dismissed the second vote as a procedural maneuver, vowing to continue the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The trial is scheduled for August<\/a>. Until the case concludes, the Judge\u2019s injunction prevents the college from completing the transfer.<\/p>\n

The proposed library \u2014 led by Trustees\u00a0Eric Trump, Trump\u2019s son;\u00a0Michael Boulos, the President\u2019s son-in-law; and\u00a0James Kiley, one of Trump\u2019s lawyers\u00a0\u2014 would reportedly include a high-rise complex combining archival space, museum exhibits and commercial development.<\/p>\n

The Library Foundation has said it will use donations and settlement funds from the President\u2019s lawsuits against Facebook parent\u00a0Meta<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ABC News<\/a>\u00a0to finance construction.<\/p>\n

Polling in Miami-Dade County found that\u00a074% of voters oppose<\/a>\u00a0using Miami Dade College land for the library and want the parcel retained for campus expansion. Just 14% support the state\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami Dade College\u2019s Board of Trustees has again approved the transfer of more than 2.6 acres of prime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6392,4144,9948,4142,39906,4175,123,4287,125,124,39907,412,6875,37105],"class_list":["post-68522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-biscayne-boulevard","tag-eric-trump","tag-freedom-tower","tag-james-kiley","tag-mabel-ruiz","tag-marvin-dunn","tag-miami","tag-miami-dade-college","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-michael-boulos","tag-ron-desantis","tag-sunshine-law","tag-trump-presidential-library"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68522","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=68522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}