Florida AG to defend Miami Dade College after court temporarily blocks Trump library
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office is jumping in to defend Miami Dade College in what he’s calling a “bogus lawsuit,” after a judge temporarily blocked the school from transferring the deed for prime downtown land the state plans to give Donald Trump’s presidential library foundation.
Florida’s chief financial officer Blaise Ingoglia briefly filed a request to join the lawsuit on the college’s behalf, but withdrew it the following day, according to court filings.
The Sunshine Law case hinges on whether the college’s Board of Trustees gave “reasonable notice” ahead of a brief Sept. 23 meeting where they unanimously voted to hand over property adjacent to the Freedom Tower to a state board at no cost, without any debate or discussion.
The state’s Internal Improvement Trust Fund — made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, which includes Uthmeier and Ingoglia — voted to give the land to Trump’s library foundation a week later. The only restriction on the deal is that construction has to begin within five years.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mavel Ruiz blocked the college from transferring the deed while the lawsuit proceeds, saying, “The court does not believe that the notice was reasonable.”
The move marked the first major public hurdle for Trump’s high-rise presidential library plan has faced. Uthmeier — whom Trump recently endorsed in Florida’s attorney general race — added two of his office’s attorneys to the college’s defense the next day, according to court filings.
Ingoglia, in his now-withdrawn motion to be added to the lawsuit, argued that the state would be harmed by the college keeping the property, writing that “it will increase MDC’s operational expenditures associated with the ownership of property in downtown Miami, as opposed to the land being privately owned and maintained.”
The college has owned the property it’s planning to give away for two decades. When it last tried to develop the property in 2016, it asked for a slew of benefits including a portion of condo sales and cash payout.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 5:07 PM.
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