Miami Residents Sue to Block Trump Library on $67 Million Waterfront Site Over Emoluments Clause
Updated
Updated · NBC News · May 13
Miami Residents Sue to Block Trump Library on $67 Million Waterfront Site Over Emoluments Clause
10 articles · Updated · NBC News · May 13
$67 million in downtown Miami land is at the center of a new lawsuit seeking to stop Donald Trump’s presidential library from taking over the nearly 3-acre waterfront parcel.
The 57-page complaint says Florida officials violated the Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause by giving a sitting president a valuable state benefit without payment, potentially skewing federal decisions on issues such as disaster relief and offshore drilling.
Trump, his library fund, Ron DeSantis, Miami Dade College and state trustees are named as defendants; the White House defended the project as a monument to Trump’s legacy but did not address the constitutional claim.
The suit also points to Trump’s own plans for a glass tower with a hotel, arguing the project is being marketed to donors and investors as a profit-making development rather than a traditional presidential library.
The filing opens a fresh legal front after a federal judge in December cleared the land transfer, and it adds to broader disputes over Trump-backed construction projects in Washington.
Will future presidential libraries become for-profit ventures instead of public museums?