The Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) has filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida against Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, Miami Dade College (MDC) and several Florida state officials. The action aims to cancel the transfer of a public plot of 1 hectare in the heart of downtown Miami, with an estimated value of more than 300 million dollars (260 million euros), transferred free of charge to the Trump presidential foundation, in violation of the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the American Constitution.
The complaint is based entirely on this means, a little-known constitutional provision which specifies that the President “shall not, during the period for which he is elected, receive any other emolument from the United States or any of them”. The complaint also cites a 1981 opinion from the Office of the Legal Council which explicitly equates the transfer of title to a sitting president with a situation falling under this means.
Defendants could argue that the foundation, not Trump personally, received the land. The subpoena anticipates this argument by invoking the theory of “constructive reception.” The Trump Library Foundation is run exclusively by Eric Trump (son of the President), Michael Boulos (son-in-law of the President), and James D. Kiley (attorney to the President), so that Donald Trump exercises de facto control over its activities. If donations could pass through entities controlled by the President to evade the clause, the constitutional ban would be easily circumvented.
In September 2025, the Florida Governor’s Office requested that the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees deed the land to the Florida Public Land Trust Board of Trustees. The MDC approved the transfer. But before the transaction was formalized, Florida had adjusted its legal framework. In December 2024, Florida parliamentarians introduced a bill to prevent any local government from regulating presidential libraries. Signed by the governor in June 2025, the law removes local planning, height and parking rules applicable to other developers and creates an exceptional regime tailor-made for the Trump library.
Beyond the land value, the summons raises the question of tax exemption. The Trump Library Foundation, registered as a non-profit association, benefits from a property tax exemption on the MDC Parcel for educational purposes, which avoids paying more than a million dollars (860,000 euros) per year in property taxes to Miami-Dade County. According to the applicants, this tax saving constitutes an additional emolument.
At the same time, Chicago is preparing to inaugurate the Obama Presidential Center. Unlike the Trump library, built on state land obtained for free, the Obama Center was financed by private donations, without transfer of land ownership to the foundation. The city of Chicago has concluded a 99-year use agreement with the Obama Foundation for a symbolic rent of 10 dollars (8.5 euros), but the land remains the property of the municipality.
However, the Obama Center was not spared from legal challenges either. The Protect Our Parks group had filed several complaints alleging that the transfer of public lands violated the “public trust” doctrine, which prohibits cities from transferring public spaces without a demonstrated public benefit. These appeals failed, with a federal court ruling that the Obama Center was indeed in the public interest.
