Florida AG to defend Miami Dade College after court temporarily blocks Trump library

Claire Heddles, Miami Herald on Oct 16, 2025

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MIAMI — 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 has also filed a request to join the lawsuit on the college’s behalf, 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 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.”

Attorneys for historian and activist Marvin Dunn, who filed the lawsuit, plan to fight Ingoglia’s request.

“We have reviewed it and are of the belief that there is no basis for intervention and it’s unnecessary and we will oppose it,” Dunn’s attorney Richard Brodsky said.

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