Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is proposing to allocate a 2.6-acre parking lot next to Miami’s Freedom Tower for the construction of a Donald Trump presidential library. The proposal will be submitted to the Florida Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, which oversees state lands. A vote on the measure is scheduled for September 30.
“No state has better delivered the President’s agenda than the Free State of Florida,” DeSantis said in a statement. “And we would be honored to house his presidential library here in his home state.”
Donald Trump, who served as both the 45th and 47th president of the United States, resides at Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
The trustees of the improvement trust fund include Governor DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
Currently, employees of Miami-Dade College’s Wolfson Campus use the parking lot slated for transfer. On Tuesday morning, Miami-Dade College’s board of trustees approved transferring ownership of this property to the state. The college also owns Freedom Tower, which reopened after undergoing a $25 million renovation.
Freedom Tower is one of downtown Miami’s most recognized landmarks. Built in 1925 as headquarters for the now-defunct Miami News, it later became known as a center for Cuban refugees during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2005, Miami-Dade College received Freedom Tower as a donation and repurposed it as a museum.
Governor DeSantis’ move comes amid efforts to mend relations with Trump after a contentious Republican primary season in 2024 that saw both men vying for party leadership. DeSantis withdrew from the race in January last year following campaign setbacks.
Recently, DeSantis’ administration worked to support stricter immigration enforcement by converting an old air strip in the Everglades into a detention facility named Alligator Alcatraz. A U.S. appeals court recently blocked an order that would have required closing this facility.
