Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump wants a presidential library. Seems odd for someone who never reads books. Maybe he will order his presidential library foundation to buy 50,000 copies of The Art of the Deal at retail and fill the library with them. That way any visitor wanting to read it can get a copy without waiting. No matter what, the library has to go somewhere and in an attempt to make amends with Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has "arranged" for Miami Dade college to donate a parking lot in downtown Miami to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation. The college paid $24 million for the land in 2004 and wanted to use it for expansion since it has 47,000 students, the most of any college in Florida.
Eric Trump promised that it would be the greatest presidential library ever built. Florida AG James Uthmeier (R) said: "President Trump has a great story to tell. As Miami becomes capital of the world in many respects, I think it will be a great location." Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) said the library would "cement Miami's role as a gateway for ideas, culture and leadership that shape the future and allow Miami to take its rightful place as a truly great global city." Apparently everyone expects it to be a big tourist attraction, maybe even bigger than Disneyworld, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Everglades combined. And that's even with no alligators, aniamatronic or otherwise.
The Foundation already has tens of millions of dollars that Trump extorted from Meta and from the settlement with ABC News. Trump has said that the gold-plated 747 from Qatar may go in the library later. But that will probably be after Trump's death because he will surely want to fly around in it after he leaves office.
On the other hand, the plan drew immediate criticism from many of Miami's Cuban Americans because it is right next to the iconic Freedom Tower, the building in the foreground below.
Many Floridians regard the Freedom Tower as the "Ellis Island of the South" because more than 400,000 refugees from Cuba were processed there starting in 1962. For many of them, it is holy ground. To build a library next to it dedicated to a president who hates refugees is sacrilegious. Ana Sofia Pelaez, executive directory of the Miami Freedom Project, said: "I can't think of any two narratives that are any more in opposition than the one of the humanity that the Freedom Tower is a symbol for, and how this president has spoken about immigrants and immigration." (V)