Tallahassee, Fla.-The search for the site of the presidential library after the administration of President Donald Trump intensifies in southern Florida, with Trump’s son, Eric and an advisor to the Top Trump administration, Steve Witkoff, getting involved in recent weeks.
The Trump team has had selectors of sites that reach possible locations in southern Florida for months, and Florida Governor Ron Desantis will meet with Trump in Palm Beach County this weekend to discuss places to build a possible Trump library, five sources tell NBC News.
Although a final decision has not been made, the main current objectives are Florida Atlantic University, located in Palm Beach County, and the International University of Florida, located in Miami-Dade County. Palm Beach County is Trump’s official residence, and the location there is very close to Mar-A-Lago. Miami-Dade County is Trump’s doral golf resort home, another of its main properties.
There are also sites that are not connected to a university under consideration, the sources tell NBC News. But Fau and Fiu are pressing a lot to win the site, and have begun to offer incentives, including the potential land donation to build the presidential library.
Trump’s team has said that he would like a new hotel associated with the presidential library, two sources tell NBC News, which is part of active negotiations.
The presidents of Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University are well connected former elected republican officials, and both have been very involved in the process. The University of Florida Atlantic is directed by Adam Hasner, former high -ranking member of the State’s house, and the president of the International University of Florida is Jeanette Nuñez, who was the governor of Desantis until he appointed her for the Post of the FIU last month.
Neither Nuner or Nuñez returned requests in search of comments. A Desantis spokesman also did not return a request for comments.
The White House did not return a request for comments, but an official of the Trump administration confirmed that southern Florida has become the focus of the presidential search.
Eric Trump joined Witkoff and Nuñez on a tour of the possible Fiu sites in recent weeks, a process that included the president of the Florida House of Representatives, Danny Pérez, a Republican of the Miami-Dade County who has spoken directly to Witkoff and is among the leaders who try to obtain the library in Miami.
“Eric Trump was here. He made a tour of Fiu, so at least they have been looking, ”said a person familiar with the tour.
Eric Trump has also toured sites aligned with FAU.
“There has been a strong impulse to put the library in Fau, even offering land for the construction of the library,” said a person familiar with those negotiations. “There seems to be a lot of interest in doing so because it is in the president’s county.”
“They are evaluating all the options at this time, but it seems that the governor and the state university system are crying out for the opportunity to obtain the president’s library,” added that person.
Republicans in the state have been making efforts to ensure that Florida becomes home to the presidential library. Trump was a New York resident until 2019, when he officially made Florida his main residence.
Beyond the direct conversations with Desantis, the Florida Legislature dominated by the Republican Party is moving rapidly to approve a bill that would allow Republicans in Stew to be in charge of decisions about presidential libraries, eliminating the capacity of local authorities to supervise the construction of any presidential library.
The change would eliminate local democratic inclination officials in southern Florida from decision -making and approval processes around a proposed Trump presidential library. Trump took Miami-Dade County in 2024, but Palm Beach County was one of Florida’s six counties won by former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential contest.
“After the flap on Trump’s flag size, I do not want my president to get into trouble to be too patriotic again,” said the Republican state senator of the Orlando area, Jason Brodeur, who sponsors the legislation in his chamber.
It is a reference to a 2006 legal fight among Trump and Town of Palm Beach officials on an 80 -foot ascendant that flying an American flag on a Trump golf course, which according to local authorities exceeded the maximum size allowed by the city’s ordinances. Trump and the city settled later, allowing a 70 -feet handle tob in a different location.
Republican state representative Alex Andrade, another sponsor of the bill, said he would be in favor of a non -university site for Trump’s library to avoid a war of grass between Fau and Fiu.
“Putting it in any of the universities will result in complaining and protesting,” he said. “With such an important proposal that will inevitably benefit the immediate surrounding area, it is shameful that you will meet complain and protest.”
“Any of the institutions would be lucky to have it,” he added.
Another person familiar with confirmed negotiations for Fau and FIU are the main objectives, but the topic of conversations this weekend between Trump and Desantis includes other sites.
“They are currently looking at sites in southern Florida,” said the person. “Both Fau and Fiu want it, but I understand that they are looking for non -university places.”
