A group of Miami residents sued Wednesday in an effort to prevent President Donald Trump’s presidential library from occupying a prime piece of waterfront property in the city.
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The lawsuit argues that state officials violated the Constitution when they transferred the downtown property for the library, which Trump has teased as a towering skyscraper. Specifically, the suit says Florida officials violated the Emoluments Clause, which says sitting presidents cannot accept gifts or advantages from any state that goes beyond their fixed salary.
“The Domestic Emoluments Clause was adopted to ensure the President’s undivided loyalty to the interests of the American nation as a whole by preventing individual states from giving the President gifts and other benefits with the hopes of obtaining favorable treatment in return,” the 57-page lawsuit says.
It goes on to argue that as a result of the defendants’ 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—the precise scenario that the Domestic Emoluments Clause was adopted to prevent.”
Trump, his library fund, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Miami Dade College and its board of trustees, and officials on the Florida Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund are listed as defendants.
The White House defended the library in a statement Wednesday that did not address the Emoluments Clause arguments in the lawsuit.
“President Trump is one of the most consequential and successful presidents in American history — a leader who has fought tirelessly to deliver for the forgotten men and women of this country and Make America Great Again,” said Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson. “The Trump Presidential Library will be one of the most magnificent buildings in the world and a living testament to the indelible impact President Trump has made on America and its people.”
Trump’s library foundation, DeSantis, state officials and representatives for Miami Dade College did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Two downtown Miami residents, a Miami Dade College student and a co-founder of a Florida nonprofit organization filed the lawsuit. They argued that granting Trump the library location would cause a myriad of threats to both Florida and other states, citing potential preferential treatment that might sway policy on issues like offshore drilling, disaster relief and the impact of tariffs on certain states’ exports.
Trump decided on the library’s location last year after he reached a deal with Florida officials and Miami Dade College to use the plot of land adjacent to Freedom Tower, a landmark that has significance for Cuban refugees who migrated to Florida.
The library is expected to occupy a highly desired, nearly 3-acre plot of real estate that is valued at more than $67 million. Trump secured the property after it was tied up in a legal battle that initially paused Miami Dade College’s transfer of the land to Florida. A federal judge dismissed the case in December, allowing the transfer to go forward.
Trump did not have to purchase the land.
Trump posted a video on Truth Social in March that previewed the library as a glass skyscraper with a needle at its top. His last name was adorned across its face in gold lettering, and an American flag hung down the middle. A presidential plane would be on the first floor.
The plaintiffs in Wednesday’s lawsuit criticized the Truth Social video and Trump’s plans to extend the property into commercial development.
“The video rendering is not merely an idealized vision of what President Trump and his family hope the development will resemble, but rather a concrete proposal that is being used to raise money from donors and investors to fund the development’s construction,” the lawsuit says.
Trump, a former real estate magnate, has said he hopes the structure will not just be a library but also include an adjacent hotel. The proposal would make Trump’s presidential library the first to also host a hotel development.
The lawsuit also cites Trump’s comments emphasizing his focus on developing the structure as a hotel; he told reporters at the White House in March, “I don’t believe in building libraries or museums.”
“These statements, individually and collectively, make clear that President Trump intends to monetize this skyscraper, generating significant profit for himself and his family,” the lawsuit says.
Trump also faces legal battles over his efforts to launch construction on federal structures in Washington, including his proposed White House ballroom, extensive renovations to the Kennedy Center and an “American flag blue” paint job on the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.