The state of Florida illegally attempted to curry special favor from the president by gifting downtown Miami land for Donald Trump’s planned presidential center and skyscraper, according to a new lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday.

The complaint accuses Trump, his nonprofit presidential library foundation, Miami Dade College and its trustees, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the other statewide officials of violating the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars sitting presidents from accepting financial benefits from individual states.

“As a result of Defendants’ conduct, other states have been forced into an arms race in which they must either compete with Florida to lavish gifts on the President or fear being unfairly disadvantaged — the precise scenario that the Domestic Emoluments Clause was adopted to prevent,” the lawsuit argues.

At the state’s request last fall, Miami Dade College transferred to a state board property that developers say is worth far more than the $67 million valuation by the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s office. That state board, run by the governor and the Florida Cabinet, then gave the land to Trump’s foundation.

The only restriction on that deed transfer is that there are “components” of a presidential library or museum constructed within the next five years. Trump has indicated he plans to build a commercial hotel on site, too. The lawsuit is asking a federal judge to declare “null and void the land transaction that resulted in the Domestic Emoluments Clause violation.”

Defendants in the case did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Miami Herald.

The lawsuit represents the second legal case against Trump’s controversial, planned legacy project adjacent to the Freedom Tower on Biscayne Blvd — and one of the few hurdles for a project Florida lawmakers tried to ensure would sail through to development. The state passed a law last year preempting local governments from enacting or enforcing rules against presidential libraries.

But the new federal lawsuit could also face an uphill battle to succeed: There is very little legal precedent for emolument cases. An “emolument” refers to financial compensation or profit, usually for someone in public office. Congressional Democrats accused Trump of accepting foreign emoluments during his first term, but that case was eventually dismissed after a judge ruled the members of Congress were not eligible to bring such a case.

Another legal fight

In this case, four plaintiffs — two residents who live near the planned development, a Miami Dade College student and a nonprofit run by historian and activist Marvin Dunn — are bringing the lawsuit. They say they would be harmed by the project.

Dunn led the state-level lawsuit accusing Miami Dade College of violating Florida’s public transparency laws in approving the deal last year, too. Miami Dade College’s Board of Trustees took a new, publicly noticed in December on the land transfer, again unanimously approving a deal that included no benefits or concessions for the college, effectively ending that case.

Dunn vowed to sue again. This time, he has the help of former state senator and prosecutor Dan Gelber’s law firm and the D.C.-based Constitutional Accountability Center representing the plaintiffs.

Miami Dade College and its trustees are now again parties to a lawsuit over the land transfer. The new lawsuit lays out the ways the college could have benefited from selling the land in a commercial deal instead.

“The land could have commanded a sales price that would have doubled MDC’s $227 million endowment overnight — enabling MDC to advance the college’s research needs, secure more world-class facilities and faculty, and reduce student expenses,” plaintiffs argue.

The college’s Board of Trustees has argued that a presidential library adjacent to its campus will be a boon for the school and bolster opportunities for students, even though there are no specific benefits for the college laid out in the deal. The college did not respond to a request for comment.

Florida is now positioned to receive special treatment from the president in exchange for the land gift in a variety of ways, the lawsuit says, including by getting exemptions from offshore drilling, receiving extra federal disaster aid or by being selected as the next location for NASA’s headquarters.

“The State Defendants have therefore given a valuable gift of land — indeed, land for a Trump hotel with waterfront views that itself will benefit from coastal tourism — to someone with the authority to protect Florida’s tourism industry,” according to the lawsuit.

The attorneys also argue that Trump’s foundation and family has already “been personally enriched by the State of Florida’s gift” because it hasn’t had to pay property taxes for the land it was gifted last year.

There are Miami-Dade County property tax records attached to the complaint filed Wednesday showing that the property remained eligible for an educational property tax exemption in 2025, as it had in past years when the land was owned by the college.

“While the Trump Library Foundation is planning and executing the development of its for-profit hotel, it has been made exempt from the considerable property taxes it would otherwise have to pay,” the attorneys argue.

“In sum, Florida’s gift of the immensely valuable MDC Parcel for lucrative private economic development benefiting the President and his close family members is an unlawful ‘emolument,’” they wrote.

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