The legal and political drama surrounding a proposed Donald Trump Presidential Library in downtown Miami has erupted into a high-stakes battle, drawing in Florida’s top officials, local activists, and raising questions about transparency, public trust, and the fate of one of the city’s most valuable parcels of land.
On October 14, 2025, Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz issued a temporary injunction blocking the transfer of a 2.63-acre site—currently an employee parking lot for Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus and adjacent to the historic Freedom Tower—to the Donald Trump Presidential Library Foundation. According to Associated Press and Fox News, the judge found that Miami Dade College’s board failed to provide reasonable public notice before its September 23 vote to approve the property transfer, a requirement under Florida’s Sunshine Law.
“This is not an easy decision,” Ruiz said from the bench, emphasizing that her ruling was “not rooted in politics.” She added, “The court does not believe that the notice was reasonable.” The judge’s ruling marked the first major public hurdle for the Trump library plan, a project that has already stirred passionate responses across the political spectrum.
The lawsuit challenging the land transfer was filed by Marvin Dunn, a retired Florida International University professor, local activist, and chronicler of Black history in South Florida. Dunn argued that the board’s process was conducted without sufficient public notice or input, possibly violating the Sunshine Law, which mandates open meetings for public boards. “Miami Dade College is a public educational institution, not a political enterprise, and must not become the custodian of any former president’s personal monument,” Dunn’s lawsuit reads. He further claimed, “The proposed conveyance would divert land held in trust for educational purposes to serve private and partisan interests.”
Supporters of the transfer, however, see things differently. The Florida Cabinet, including Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, voted in late September 2025 to gift the land to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation. The only restriction on the deal is that construction must begin within five years. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was recently endorsed by Trump in his own attorney general race, swiftly intervened on behalf of Miami Dade College. “Under my authority as Florida’s Chief Legal Officer, our office stepped in yesterday to represent Miami Dade College in this bogus lawsuit,” Uthmeier posted on X (formerly Twitter) on October 15.
College attorney Jesus Suarez defended the board’s actions, arguing that Miami Dade College met all legal requirements. “There is no requirement under Florida law that there be specificity on notice, because those trustees can come into that room and talk to each other about whatever they wish,” Suarez told Associated Press. The agenda for the September 23 meeting included only a brief note about discussing a property transfer to a state trust fund, with no explanation of the parcel or the reason for the move. Unlike all other board meetings this year, the early-morning session at 8 a.m. was not streamed online, a detail that has further fueled criticism from opponents of the transfer.
The value of the land at the heart of the controversy is staggering. The Miami-Dade County property appraiser valued the parcel at more than $66 million in 2025, but real estate consultants cited by The New York Times have estimated it could fetch at least $360 million given its prime waterfront location. The property sits on Biscayne Boulevard, surrounded by luxury high-rise apartment buildings, with sweeping views of the Kaseya Center—home to the NBA’s Miami Heat—and Dodge Island, the gateway for many of the world’s largest cruise liners.
For Miami Dade College, the plot has a long history. The institution has owned the property for two decades, and its last effort to develop the site in 2016 included requests for a share of condo sales and a cash payout. The current plan to transfer the land at no cost to the Trump library foundation, without debate or discussion, has drawn scrutiny from watchdogs and local residents alike. The site’s proximity to the Freedom Tower—a symbol of Cuban exile and a resource center for refugees fleeing communism—adds another layer of historical and emotional resonance to the debate.
The Trump family, meanwhile, has laid out ambitious plans for the presidential library. Eric Trump, the president’s son and a trustee of the foundation, has promised that the library will be “one of the most beautiful buildings ever built” and will preserve his father’s legacy. He has also stated that it will not resemble former President Barack Obama’s presidential center in Chicago, signaling a desire for a distinctive, iconic structure in Miami’s skyline.
Yet the legal and financial foundations of the project have come under question. As reported by WLRN and OpenSecrets, the Donald Trump Presidential Library Fund Inc., a nonprofit set up in December 2024 with a $15 million donation from ABC News, was labeled inactive by the Florida Division of Corporations on September 26, 2025, after failing to file an annual report. This dissolution occurred just four days before the Florida Cabinet’s vote to transfer the land. The Fund had only filed two documents: articles of incorporation and an amendment stating that, if dissolved, its assets could be distributed to government entities for public purposes. The exact amount of money left in the Fund at the time of its dissolution remains unknown.
Shortly after the Fund went inactive, the Trump family established a new nonprofit, the Donald Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc., which became the named recipient of the downtown Miami land. Eric Trump is listed as a trustee. The transition from one nonprofit to another has raised eyebrows among ethics experts and further complicated the legal landscape surrounding the library’s future.
Florida’s political leadership has been anything but passive. In addition to Uthmeier’s intervention, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia briefly filed a request to join the lawsuit on the college’s behalf, only to withdraw it the following day. Ingoglia argued that keeping the property would “increase MDC’s operational expenditures associated with the ownership of property in downtown Miami, as opposed to the land being privately owned and maintained.”
The lawsuit and the judge’s injunction have put the brakes on the transfer for now, but the outcome remains uncertain. Supporters of the library argue that the project will bring prestige, tourism, and economic benefits to Miami, while critics see it as an inappropriate use of public educational land for a private, partisan monument. The case has become a flashpoint in Florida’s ongoing debates over transparency, the role of public institutions, and the legacy of one of America’s most polarizing presidents.
As the legal proceedings grind on, the fate of Miami’s last great undeveloped waterfront parcel—and the future of the Trump Presidential Library—hangs in the balance, watched closely by citizens, politicians, and historians alike.
