Judge Throws Wrench in Trump Presidential Library Plan

Judge temporarily blocks planned transfer of Miami land
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 15, 2025 12:30 AM CDT
Judge Throws Wrench in Trump Presidential Library Plan
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing that President Donald Trump's presidential library be built in a parking lot that is currently used by Miami-Dade College staff and faculty and is adjacent to the Freedom Tower, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Miami.   (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

A Florida judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the planned transfer of prime downtown Miami land for President Trump's future presidential library, the AP reports. The move by Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz came after a Miami activist alleged that officials at a local college violated Florida's open government law when they gifted the sizable plot of real estate to the state, which then voted to transfer it to the foundation for the planned library. "This is not an easy decision," Mavel said Tuesday when explaining her ruling from the bench, finding that the college didn't give the public reasonable notice ahead of the vote last month. "This is not a case, at least for this court, rooted in politics," she added.

The nearly 3-acre property is a developer's dream and is valued at more than $67 million, according to a 2025 assessment by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser. One real estate expert wagered that the parcel—one of the last undeveloped lots on an iconic stretch of palm tree-lined Biscayne Boulevard—could sell for hundreds of millions of dollars more. Marvin Dunn, an activist and chronicler of local Black history, filed a lawsuit this month in a Miami-Dade County court against the Board of Trustees for Miami Dade College, a state-run school that owned the property. He alleged that the board violated Florida's Government in the Sunshine law by not providing sufficient notice for its special meeting on Sept. 23, when it voted to give up the land.

An agenda released ahead of the meeting simply stated the board would consider conveying property to a state fund overseen by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, but provided no details on which piece of property was being considered or why. Unlike every other meeting the board has held this year, the 8am meeting on Sept. 23 was not livestreamed. A week later, DeSantis and other top GOP officials voted to transfer the land again, effectively putting the property under the control of the Trump family when they deeded it to the foundation for Trump's library. That foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump; Tiffany Trump's husband, Michael Boulos; and the president's attorney James Kiley.

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