Lawsuit: Gift of Land for Trump Library Unconstitutional

Plans for President Trump's presidential library are facing a constitutional challenge in Miami, where residents are trying to block the project from taking over a prime downtown waterfront site, NBC News reports. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, two downtown residents, a Miami Dade College student, and a Florida nonprofit co-founder argue that Florida officials ran afoul of the Constitution's Domestic Emoluments Clause when they arranged to give Trump control of nearly 3 acres of state-owned land, valued at more than $67 million, without requiring him to buy it. (The Washington Post reports Trump's library foundation was charged $10.) The clause bars a sitting president from receiving benefits from individual states beyond his salary, and the 57-page complaint says Florida's deal effectively hands Trump an improper gift.

It also claims the move pressures other states into "an arms race" to offer their own perks to win favorable treatment on policy issues such as offshore drilling, disaster aid, and tariffs. Named as defendants are Trump, his library foundation (founded by, per CNN, Trump's son and son-in-law), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Miami Dade College and its board, and members of the state's Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. The land sits next to Miami's Freedom Tower, a symbolic site for Cuban refugees. A previous lawsuit had stalled the transfer of the parcel from Miami Dade College to the state, but a federal judge tossed that case in December, clearing the way for the current plan.

The complaint leans heavily on Trump's own description of the project. In a March Truth Social video, he previewed a glass skyscraper emblazoned with his name, topped with a needle, and featuring a presidential plane inside. The plaintiffs say that rendering is being used to solicit money for what they portray as a commercial development that would include a hotel—the first such addition to a presidential library—and generate "significant profit" for Trump and his family. They also cite his remark to reporters, "I don't believe in building libraries or museums," as evidence that the complex is primarily a business venture. A White House spokesperson defended Trump and the project in broad terms, calling him "one of the most consequential and successful presidents," but did not address the emoluments allegation.