A group of Miami residents has sued to stop Trump’s presidential library in downtown Miami, marking the second legal battle against the project, only this time they’re alleging the land transfer is unconstitutional.
Two Miamians, led by the Constitutional Accountability Center and Miami-based law firm Gelber Schachter & Greenberg, who live near the development site filed the complaint against Trump, his library foundation, Gov. Ron DeSantis, members of the Florida Cabinet and Miami Dade College, alleging the project violates the Emoluments Clause prohibiting the presidents from accepting gifts, payments or other benefits aside from his salary from state, federal or foreign entities, Politico reported. Miami Dade College had first transferred the 2.6-acre site to the state, and DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet subsequently gifted it to Trump’s library foundation.
The suit was filed in Florida’s southern federal district on Thursday.
The plaintiffs say the tower would “compromise” their views and “worsen” living conditions in the neighborhood, and also seize on Trump’s past media statements that the project could include a hotel.
These statements “make clear that President Trump intends to monetize this skyscraper, generating significant profit for himself and his family,” the lawsuit states, according to the publication.
“Notably, the ‘TRUMP’ lettering at the top of the rendered skyscraper is identical to The Trump Organization’s logo and the signage used on Trump hotel properties across the world, including the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago and the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas,” according to the complaint.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle responded to the publication’s request for comment saying the Trump presidential library “will be one of the most magnificent buildings in the world … and a living testament to the indelible impact President Trump has made on America and its people.”
The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to the publication’s request for comment.
Overtown Farm, Miami historian and activist Dr. Marvin Dunn’s nonprofit that wants to use the land for an urban farm, also is a plaintiff. Dunn also had filed the first complaint to stop the library against Miami Dade College, Miami historian and activist Dr. Marvin Dunn sued Miami Dade College to stop the transfer, claiming the college’s board of trustees violated Florida’s public records and public meetings laws when it first voted to hand over the site in September.
Dunn lost the case when Miami Judge Mavel Ruiz ruled in December that the board of trustees cured the issue when it held a re-do vote. The outcome of the re-do was the same, with the board unanimously approving the transfer. An appeals court this year disqualified Ruiz from the case over allegedly showing bias at the December hearing by giving Dunn a hug after she dismissed the suit.
The downtown Miami site is valued at about $67 million, with some experts pegging it to as much as $300 million. The site, at 500-540 Biscayne Boulevard, is next to the Freedom Tower and steps from Kaseya Center arena and the bay.
––– Lidia Dinkova