Donald Trump Library back on track after judge lifts MDC injunction

The Trump presidential library is back on the fast track in downtown Miami — at least for now.
Last week, a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz lifted her two-month injunction blocking Miami Dade College from transferring prime bayfront land that is slated to become the future shrine to Donald J. Trump.
Ruiz ruled Thursday that MDC had effectively cured the open-government problem that led her to halt the deal in the first place — not because the controversy went away, but because the college held a do-over.
And this time, they checked all the Sunshine Law boxes.
Read related: Miami Dade College gifts Donald Trump land for his library — and a hotel
Ruiz had initially frozen the transfer after local activist and history professor Marvin Dunn sued the college, arguing trustees violated Florida’s open records laws by fast-tracking the deal with vague notice and zero public testimony. Back in November, the judge agreed the case deserved a full trial — scheduled for August 2026 — and temporarily stopped the land from changing hands.
But in December, MDC trustees held a second, “properly” noticed meeting at the college’s Hialeah campus. This time, the agenda spelled it out clearly: the land would be used for the Trump presidential library. The meeting dragged on for four and a half hours, featured nearly 80 speakers, included testimony from Dunn and his attorney, Richard Brodsky, who warned the fight wasn’t over. Some people supported the library’s placement, mostly self-identifying Republicans or Trump fans. Others said it was an affront to have it next to the Miami Freedom Tower, a beacon for Cuban immigrants who came to this country.
Documentary filmmaker and reluctant Democrat Billy Corben surprisingly said he was all for it — as long as the library foundation paid a fair price for the land that could then be used to benefit the students. He called it a reckless giveaway.
“It’s a real estate deal guys, that’s all,” Corben told board members., which include former State Reps. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz and Michael Bileca. “I presume some of you own property in the county, residential, commercial. Why don’t you donate it for free to the present? Of course not. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous for me to even say it or suggest it. It was absurd when you heard it out loud.
“If you wouldn’t do it with your property, don’t do it with the college’s property.”
But it was pretty obvious the decision had been made before anybody started speaking.
And that second meeting, Ruiz ruled Thursday, changed everything on the legal front.
Read related: Lawsuit challenges MDC giveaway of downtown Miami lot for Trump library
“Although there have been a lot of political issues associated with this case, let me make something very clear,” Ruiz said from the bench. “This is not and has never been a political decision.”
“Although there’s been a lot of political issues associated with this case, let me make something very, very clear. This is not and has never been and is not today a political decision,” Ruiz said. “The complaint was based on the lack of notice. This court finds that the new notice complies.”
The judge emphasized that the court was not ruling on whether a Trump library belongs in Miami, whether gifting public land is wise, or whether the site should be used for a library, a park — or, as she put it, “a petting zoo.”
Her job, she said, was limited to one thing: whether the public had been properly notified and given a chance to be heard. And on that narrow question, she sided with MDC.
“It’s hard to think what more could have been added to this notice to comply and to inform the public of their right to appear,” Ruiz said, pointing to the December meeting’s detailed agenda and broad public outreach. “The law is the law. It applies to all of us equally.”
Lawyers for Miami Dade College argued the lawsuit was now moot, noting that Dunn’s own attorneys had previously said the issue could be resolved by renoticing the meeting. MDC attorney Jennifer Hernandez told the court that even if there had been a Sunshine Law violation — which the college disputes — it had been “cured.”
“The Sunshine violation — if any existed — has been cured,” Hernandez said.
Read related: MDC Trustees rubber-stamp Donald Trump library land giveaway — again
Ruiz deliberated for about 10 minutes before lifting the injunction. The ruling clears the way for the transfer of 2.6 acres of downtown Miami land — valued at roughly $67 million, though some real estate experts say the bayfront property across from the Miami Heat arena could be worth far more.
The deal began quietly in September, when MDC trustees voted to transfer the land to the state. Days later, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that the Cabinet would vote to gift the parcel to the Trump Library Foundation.
That speed — and the lack of public notice — is what triggered Dunn’s lawsuit.
At the first MDC meeting, no one testified. The agenda vaguely referenced “potential real estate transactions,” and trustees didn’t even mention the Trump library by name. Uthmeier joined the defense and said Miami Dade College didn’t have to be more specific in the notice of the trustees meeting, which has frightening implications statewide for other public noticed meetings.
Ruiz later said that wasn’t good enough, placing the injunction and setting a trial for August.
MDC trustees said they didn’t want to drag the issue out and opted to vote again — this time loudly, publicly and at length.
Brodsky tried Thursday to keep the injunction in place, arguing the second meeting was little more than “going through the motions.” He’s not wrong.
Ladra would add that the trustees intentionally moved the meeting to the Hialeah campus to curb public comment. They also drummed up support from a lot of local Republican activists who turned it into a defense of the POTUS instead of important, relevant guardrails on the use of public land meant for the benefit of college students.
Read related: MDC Trustees to vote again on Trump library land; still smells like a done deal
And most people knew it was a done deal. The trustees had said so before the meeting. So, how was it a real do-over?
Still, Dunn didn’t walk away empty-handed. The judge dissolved the injunction but left open the possibility that he could file another lawsuit to try to stop the transfer of the land. And Ladra bets he will do something.
You know who won’t? Newly-elected Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, who has said that it is out of her purview. Okay. That may be true. But that doesn’t mean she had to be so chummy with MDC President Madeline Pumariega at La Alcaldesa 2‘s swearing in last week. It sends the wrong message.
So, for now, at least, the Trump library — even if it’s just some coloring books and a McDonald’s kiosk — moves forward. The politics remain radioactive. The land remains priceless.
But the final chapter — legally or politically — is far from written.

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