Miami residents sue to stop Trump’s presidential library from taking prime waterfront plot

The lawsuit alleges that Florida officials violated the Constitution when granting President Donald Trump the valuable real estate.

A group of Miami residents sued Wednesday in an effort to prevent President Donald Trump’s presidential library from occupying a prime piece of waterfront property in the city.

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The lawsuit argues that state officials violated the Constitution when they transferred the downtown property for the library, which Trump has teased as a towering skyscraper. Specifically, the suit says Florida officials violated the Emoluments Clause, which says sitting presidents cannot accept gifts or advantages from any state that goes beyond their fixed salary.

“The Domestic Emoluments Clause was adopted to ensure the President’s undivided loyalty to the interests of the American nation as a whole by preventing individual states from giving the President gifts and other benefits with the hopes of obtaining favorable treatment in return,” the 57-page lawsuit says.