A group of Miami area residents filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump, Miami Dade College, and Florida state officials over the transfer of prime downtown Miami real estate for Trump’s planned presidential library complex that could include commercial hotel space.
The legal challenge claims the president, his library foundation, and state officials including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis broke the Domestic Emoluments Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which bars states from providing financial advantages to current presidents.
The White House did not provide a response to requests for comment Wednesday evening.
Last September, DeSantis authorized the transfer of a 2.63-acre property to Trump’s library foundation. Following the transfer, the president and his son Eric Trump revealed elaborate plans for a tower to hold the library. A computer-generated video released in March shows sweeping views of the proposed building’s exterior and interior spaces, featuring a presidential aircraft displayed in the entrance area next to a golden escalator similar to the one Trump used during his 2015 campaign launch. Additional footage depicts a massive ballroom comparable to one he’s designing for the White House, a recreated Oval Office, rooftop garden areas, and a large golden Trump statue.
The president has also indicated the structure might contain commercial businesses.
“This concept could be an office, but it’s most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath,” Trump told reporters in March.
The legal filing contends this means the property “is no longer available to serve MDC’s student community and Downtown Miami. Instead, the land will house a Trump hotel that brings riches to the President.”
The transferred property belongs to Miami Dade College and sits adjacent to the Freedom Tower, a landmark structure that stands among the upscale condominiums overlooking palm-lined Biscayne Bay. The Spanish Revival tower previously housed one of the city’s earliest newspapers before becoming a service center for hundreds of thousands of Cubans seeking refuge in the United States, according to Miami Dade College, which currently runs the location as a museum.
The property carries an estimated value of approximately $67 million based on a 2025 evaluation by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser. Additional real estate professionals, including appraisers referenced in the lawsuit, have estimated the land could command hundreds of millions of dollars more on the open market.
Legal representatives from the Constitutional Accountability Center in Washington, D.C., and the Miami law firm Gelber Schachter & Greenberg brought the case on behalf of a Miami Dade College student, two residents living near the transferred property, and a local nonprofit group that had wanted to develop an urban farm on the site.
