A federal judge on Friday appeared poised to dismiss a lawsuit against President Trump's proposed library in Miami, citing presidential immunity in blocking the fact-finding pretrial process that is generally required. The judge, Rodolfo A. Ruiz II of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, said in his order that Mr. Trump's immunity defense and other arguments for dismissing the lawsuit were strong enough to dispense with the fact-finding process, known as discovery, as the president's defense could "dispose of the entire case." Judge Ruiz, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, said he recognized that denying the fact-finding process entirely is "generally disfavored" but that he had broad discretion to do so.

His ruling signaled that the court could soon dispense with the legal challenge against plans for Mr. Trump's skyscraper library in downtown Miami, estimated to cost $1 billion. Like other presidential libraries, Mr. Trump's would be paid for entirely by private individuals, corporations and organizations. The library could include a golden escalator like the one Mr. Trump rode down to announce his candidacy in 2015 as well as a gilded statue of Mr. Trump raising a fist. Mr. Trump has said that the development would include businesses such as a hotel and retail stores.

It could also hold the $400 million Boeing 747 that Qatar gave Mr. Trump as a replacement for the older Air Force One.