The proposed transfer of prime downtown Miami land for the prospective Donald J. Trump presidential library was temporarily halted by a Florida judge on Tuesday. Miami Dade College owns the land on which the library is to be constructed.
Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz ruled that the college's board of trustees had broken a Florida government law when they first gave the state the "sizable plot" of real estate. The board "didn't give the public reasonable notice ahead of the vote last month," Ruiz claims.According to The Associated Press, Ruiz told reporters from the bench that "this is not an easy decision." "This is not a politically motivated case, at least for this court," she continued.
Marvin Dunn, an activist, filed the lawsuit last month, claiming that the board had failed to give enough notice for its special meeting on September 23 when it decided to hand up the land, in violation of Florida's "Government in the Sunshine" rule.
The agenda, which was made public before to the meeting, "merely stated the board would consider conveying property to a state fund overseen by Florida governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet," but it "provided no details on which piece of property was being considered or why," according to Dunn's complaint.
Dunn said that this meeting was not livestreamed, in contrast to all the previous board meetings this year.
DeSantis, a member of Trump's Republican Party, and other high ranking officials voted to transfer the land once more a week later, so giving the president's family authority over the property.
In an attempt to overcome possible opposition in liberal counties or towns, DeSantis signed a bill earlier this year that preempts local governments from obstructing the library's expansion. This is why the case is being brought.
Miami Dade College lawyer Jesus Suarez questioned Marvin Dunn's "political motivations" for bringing the complaint, claiming the college performed "what was required under the law."
According to Suarez, "Florida law does not require specificity in notice because those trustees can discuss anything they want with each other in that room."
Dunn's lawyers retorted that anyone who wasn't already aware of the agreement could have predicted the board's decision.
Before the judge's ruling, plaintiff's lawyer Richard Brodsky told The Associated Press, "The people have a right to know what they're going to decide to do when the transaction is so significant, so unusual, and deprives the students and the college of this land."
The Miami-Dade County property appraiser's 2025 assessment places the approximately 3-acre (1.2-hectare) property at over $67 million, calling it a "developer's dream."
The library has previously been contemplated for other Florida locales, such as those connected to Florida International University in suburban Miami and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
