Artists and residents of Miami gathered on Friday in front of the Tower of Liberty to demand the reversal of the public land concession where the Donald Trump Presidential Library is planned to be built, in a protest that brought to the forefront the historical significance of the building for the Cuban exile community.
The event was led by Dr. Marvin Dunn and local artist Danny Fila, a co-organizer of the demonstration, who asserted that the land should remain dedicated to educational and community purposes.
"This property belongs to the public, to the students of Miami Dade College, and to the history of this city. Giving away public educational land for a commercial enterprise and the private legacy project of a sitting president is illegal, unconstitutional, and a betrayal of public trust," Dunn stated.
Fila pointed directly to the symbolic weight of the place for the Cuban diaspora: "It is completely disrespectful to all immigrants to build a commercial enterprise directly on the land connected to our most cherished symbol of freedom, especially for the Cuban diaspora."
The Tower of Freedom is not an ordinary building for exiles. Built in 1925 as the headquarters of The Miami News, it was transformed in 1962 into the Cuban Refugee Center, where the federal government processed and assisted more than 500,000 Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro's regime until 1974. For this reason, it is known as the "Ellis Island of the South."
Declared a National Historic Monument in 2008, it reopened as a museum in September 2025 after a restoration costing 65 million dollars.
The disputed land is a 2.63-acre parcel adjacent to the Tower, currently used as parking, transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation for the symbolic price of ten dollars.
The Miami-Dade County appraiser valued it between 66 and 67 million dollars, although experts cited in the lawsuit estimate its actual value to be as much as 360 million dollars.
The operation began in September 2025, when Miami Dade College voted to transfer the parcel to the state of Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis approved its transfer to the Trump Foundation. After several unsuccessful legal attempts to block the operation, the property was handed over to the foundation in February 2026.
Dunn and other residents filed in May a federal lawsuit against Trump, Miami Dade College, and DeSantis alleging that the transfer violates the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits states from granting financial benefits to a sitting president.
In September, federal judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II halted the proceedings by agreeing that presidential immunity defenses must be resolved before the case can move forward.
Meanwhile, the project is moving forward. Trump revealed the designs in March through an artificial intelligence video: a 47-story tower —a number that alludes to his status as the 47th president— featuring a replica of the Oval Office, a golden statue, and a presidential airplane in the lobby.
Trump himself confirmed the commercial aspect: "This concept could be an office, but it is more likely to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath."
The designer is the Cuban-American architect Willy Bermello, who arrived in Miami at the age of nine with five dollars and passed through the Freedom Tower upon arriving in the country.
Bermello estimates that construction will begin in late 2027 and that the complex will be completed between 2029 and 2030, after Trump has left the White House.
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