Trump Library Will Have a Fake News Wing Funded by Media Lawsuits

Eric Trump Reveals Plans for Miami Site

Florida just handed the Trump family $67 million worth of prime Miami real estate for a presidential library. The site sits next to the Freedom Tower, a landmark that once welcomed Cuban refugees fleeing communism.

Eric Trump says the building will be an icon on the Miami skyline, and he has already announced one unusual feature: a wing dedicated to what he calls fake news, funded entirely by lawsuit settlements from ABC and CBS.

The museum may operate without any government oversight, and a lawsuit over the land deal goes to trial next summer.

Florida Gave Away $67 Million in Land

Miami Dade College transferred more than two-and-a-half acres of downtown Miami land to the state to build President Donald Trump’s presidential library.

The site is valued at more than $67 million, according to a 2025 assessment by the Miami-Dade County property appraiser.

One real estate expert said the parcel, one of the last undeveloped lots on Biscayne Boulevard, could sell for hundreds of millions more. The property was being used as a parking lot for college employees.

It will be the smallest presidential library site in acreage for any modern president at 2. 63 acres.

Eric Trump Promises an Iconic Building

Eric Trump said on a podcast that he got the library approved and would be building it himself. He ridiculed the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, saying it looked like a jailhouse.

Eric Trump wrote on social media that the library would be one of the most beautiful buildings ever built and an icon on the Miami skyline. The project is estimated to cost $950 million.

The Trump team has discussed adding a hotel to the development, which would make it the first presidential library with an attached commercial property.

A Fake News Wing Is in the Plans

Speaking on a podcast called “The Benny Show,” Eric Trump said he would create a fake news wing for the library. The wing would be paid for with money from lawsuit settlements with ABC, CBS, and other sources.

The exhibit would loop clips from outlets like 60 Minutes that the president felt aired biased coverage of him.

Tim Naftali, who helped create the Watergate exhibit at the Nixon library, said it would be hard for nonpartisan library professionals at the National Archives to accept such an exhibit.

Media Settlements Are Funding the Project

ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.

CBS’s parent company Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a separate lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview. The ABC settlement came after Stephanopoulos misstated a jury’s findings in the E. Jean Carroll case.

The Paramount settlement came as the company was trying to complete an $8 billion sale to Skydance Media, a deal that required FCC approval.

The Site Borders the Freedom Tower

Freedom Tower in Miami is considered the Ellis Island of the South for its role from 1962 through 1974 as the Cuban Assistance Center, offering nationally sanctioned relief to Cuban refugees fleeing Fidel Castro’s regime.

An estimated 650,000 Cuban refugees entered the United States from 1959 until 1974, and the federal government spent $957 million on the Cuban Refugee Program. The tower was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2008.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he could think of no better location to tell Trump’s story.

Florida Stripped Local Control Over Libraries

Governor DeSantis signed a law ensuring the state, not local governments, will guide the process for presidential library construction.

The bill reserves to the state all regulatory authority over the establishment, maintenance, activities, and operations of presidential libraries.

The legislation was passed partly because of a 2006 legal fight between Trump and Palm Beach officials over an 80-foot flagpole flying an American flag over a Trump golf course.

Local officials said it was larger than allowed by town ordinance.

The Trump Family Controls the Foundation

The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation is led by three trustees: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump’s husband Michael Boulos, and Trump attorney James Kiley.

The foundation was incorporated in Florida on December 20, 2024, six days after ABC agreed to settle its defamation lawsuit.

Unlike campaign funds, there are no restrictions on donations to presidential libraries, and presidents can solicit unlimited donations from anyone, including foreign nationals and corporations with federal contracts.

Government May Have No Say Over Exhibits

Trump might follow Obama’s example by creating a private foundation where museum exhibits are not subject to government review.

If Trump follows the Obama model, the National Archives would be powerless to object to exhibit content.

The museum would be privately owned by a foundation, never transferred to the National Archives, and would have no on-site research facilities.

The Archives would still control the presidential papers, which belong to the federal government, but would have no authority over how the museum tells Trump’s story.

College Board Voted Twice to Approve It

The Miami Dade College Board of Trustees voted twice to transfer the land after an earlier vote became the subject of a lawsuit.

Miami activist Marvin Dunn, a retired professor and chronicler of local Black history, filed a lawsuit arguing the college board violated Florida’s Sunshine Law by not providing sufficient notice for its September 23 meeting.

More than 100 members of the public spoke at the second meeting, with a majority speaking against the transfer. The board voted unanimously both times.

Critics Call It a Giveaway to a Billionaire

Retired Florida International University professor Marvin Dunn said the project is not a library but an economic development project for the Trump family.

He noted the Trump Presidential Library Foundation consists of just three people: Eric Trump, his wife, and a lawyer.

Eileen Higgins, the first Democrat elected mayor of Miami in 30 years, said giving away valuable land to a billionaire for free does not make sense.

Some speakers pointed out there is no requirement in the agreement that an actual presidential library be built on the site.

Trial Set for August 2026

A trial has been set for August 2026 in the lawsuit seeking to block the transfer of the Miami real estate.

Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz granted a temporary injunction that bars the transfer of the property, at least for now.

The case will examine whether the public was properly included in the process under Florida’s open meeting law. The land transaction requires the Trump foundation to start construction within five years.

Whether the lawsuit succeeds or fails, the Trump family is already planning what they say will be the greatest presidential library ever built.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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