Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing to establish President Donald Trump’s presidential library in an iconic stretch of downtown Miami.
Paving the way for the president’s post-administration historical archives is another way DeSantis and conservative lawmakers are vying to demonstrate their loyalty to Trump, who has shifted the center of his political universe south to his adopted home state of Florida.
DeSantis announced a plan Tuesday to set aside a 2.63-acre (1.06-hectare) parcel of land adjacent to the Freedom Tower, a historic building that rises alongside the glitzy condos facing palm tree-lined Biscayne Bay. The landmark tower once housed one of the city’s first newspapers. It later served as a resource center for hundreds of thousands of Cubans seeking asylum in the United States, according to Miami Dade College, which now operates the site as a museum. It’s considered a symbol of the city’s vibrant immigrant heritage and a refuge for those fleeing communism.
Florida’s Cabinet is slated to vote on the proposal on Sept. 30.
Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a bill advanced by the Republican-controlled Legislature to preempt local governments from blocking development of a presidential library, an effort to stave off any potential opposition from liberal-leaning counties or municipalities.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
