Florida Gifts Valuable Miami Land for Trump Presidential Library
TALLAHASSEE, Florida, USA (AP) — Florida officials decided Tuesday to set aside nearly 3 acres of valuable land in downtown Miami, next to the historic Freedom Tower, as a possible site for President Donald Trump’s future library.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Cabinet voted to give the land, valued at more than $66 million, to the foundation planning the post-Trump administration archives, arguing that the property, which belongs to the state-run Miami Dade College, would provide a “greater benefit to the public” and “increase economic development activities” like the Trump library.
It is the latest demonstration of loyalty by Florida’s Republican leaders to Trump, who has relocated the center of his political universe to his adopted home state.
The property is surrounded by luxury condominiums on an iconic, palm-tree-lined stretch of Biscayne Boulevard, with waterfront views and across the street from the basketball arena that is home to the Miami Heat. Miami Dade College has used it as an employee parking lot.
Under the state Constitution, the donation of certain state properties requires the approval of a decision-making body composed of the state attorney general, the chief financial officer, the agriculture commissioner, and the governor.
The transfer gives the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc., control over a property long dreamed of by developers. The foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump’s husband, Michael Boulos, and Trump’s attorney, James Kiley.
“It will be the greatest Presidential Library ever built, honoring the greatest President,” Eric Trump stated in a social media post.
The site is adjacent to the Freedom Tower, the historic Spanish Revival-style building that housed one of Miami’s first newspapers before serving as a resource center for hundreds of thousands of Cubans who fled communism and sought asylum in the United States. Now operated as a museum by the college, it is considered a symbol of the city’s vibrant immigrant heritage.
The iconic tower has also been a site of recent protests against Trump’s crackdown on migrants. Cuban-Americans, who dominate politics in Miami, have voted overwhelmingly for Trump. But his mass deportation agenda is increasingly viewed as a betrayal, leaving many questioning their support for him.
Locations associated with Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and Florida International University in suburban Miami had previously been considered as possible sites for the library. DeSantis signed a law this year that prevents local governments from blocking the development of a presidential library, aiming to override potential opposition from liberal-leaning counties or municipalities.
