Could Florida International University land the Trump presidential library? A Trump lawyer has toured the campus

Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald on Jan 23, 2025

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Florida International University may be on the list for what could be President Donald Trump’s most high-profile real estate deal: his presidential library.

Trump’s local real estate lobbyist recently toured the state school’s main campus in the Miami suburbs as part of an early effort to scout potential library sites. And multiple sources said there’s a push underway by people in Miami with ties to Trump and his administration to land FIU on the short list of contenders for a center devoted to Trump’s legacy and records once he leaves office.

For now, according to the sources, FIU appears to be an underdog to Florida Atlantic University, a state school in Boca Raton that’s about 25 miles away from Trump’s palatial Palm Beach home, Mar-a-Lago. That’s compared to the 80 miles that separate FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus outside Sweetwater from Mar-a-Lago.

But FIU is only 4 miles from the Trump National golf resort in Doral, with the potential of a Trump hotel operating a short ride from a new presidential attraction and conference center attracting visitors worldwide.

It’s not clear if FIU itself is involved in the push. A spokesperson for the school issued a statement saying FIU would welcome the opportunity to talk about putting the Trump presidential library there.

“We are aware there has been a campus tour, but FIU has not been approached officially, nor has FIU received a proposal regarding a presidential library on campus,” the school said in a statement. “Hosting a presidential library is an honor and FIU certainly welcomes the opportunity to discuss the possibility.”

Marc Sarnoff, a former Miami city commissioner who sits on the FIU board, said the idea sounded promising.

“Who wouldn’t want that?” said Sarnoff, a Democrat. “What a great idea.”

Felix Lasarte, a Miami real estate lawyer and lobbyist who represents the Trump Organization, confirmed that he toured FIU earlier this month as part of a scouting effort for a future library. He said the tour of the campus where Florida’s Turnpike meets Southwest Eighth Street was not coordinated with FIU administrators.

Lasarte also said he was accompanied by another person with ties to Trump, but he declined to name that individual.

“We went to see the campus. FIU is great. Lots of life,” Lasarte said of the visit. “I think Miami is in the running.”

Official presidential libraries house government records from a president’s administration and are run by the National Archives and Records Administration. Some former presidents also establish their own “centers,” which can provide space for the official library.

The Obama Presidential Center under construction in Chicago is expected to cost more than $700 million to build, using dollars raised by former President Barack Obama and his Obama Foundation. The center is going up on a city park in Chicago, after the Obama Foundation rejected bids from other potential sites in Chicago, New York and Hawaii.

To secure a library site at FAU or FIU, Trump would need the cooperation of Florida’s governor — putting Gov. Ron DeSantis in the role of potential land benefactor for the president until the second-term governor leaves office in 2026. Miami-Dade, a county Trump won by 11 points, also could be asked to provide surrounding land or subsidies for a project as large as a presidential center.

Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster in Miami, said Trump’s attempt to the overturn the 2020 presidential election makes his presidential library something FIU should reject.

“It seems insane that a respected university like Florida International would want to house a presidential library for an insurrectionist who tried to end our democracy,” he said.

Roberto Gonzalez, a Republican Miami-Dade commissioner whose district includes FIU, issued a statement saying a Trump library makes sense for “a university that is reflective of Miami’s diversity and serves as a catalyst to helping so many achieve the American Dream.”

Lasarte, an FIU graduate, said he has not spoken to Trump himself about library locations but that he expected the idea of putting it somewhere in the area would be appealing to the president.

“Miami is a place that’s close to him and close to his heart,” Lasarte said of Trump. “I think Miami is the go-to spot.”

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