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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Trump brushes off past rivalry with DeSantis at opening of Florida’s
‘Alligator Alcatraz’
By Steve Contorno and Kit Maher, CNN
Updated:
5:36 PM EDT, Tue July 1, 2025
Source: CNN
Just months after President ’s administration quietly moved to
undercut a hardline immigration push by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the
two Republican former rivals appeared side by side on Tuesday for the
opening of a new migrant detention center in the Everglades.
Trump and DeSantis toured the compound — nicknamed — built on a
remote airstrip surrounded by swamp and predators. In the latest
display of his support for a signature Trump priority, DeSantis used
emergency powers to seize the land and fast-track construction with
encouragement from the Trump administration.
“Ron worked beautifully with Kristi (Noem) and all of the people at
Homeland Security and got it done in how many days, Ron?” Trump told
reporters, turning to DeSantis.
“Eight days, a new facility was up and running,” the governor said.
While Trump touted his relationship with DeSantis — “I would say
it’s a 10. I think it’s a 10,” the president said, “maybe 9.9
because, you know, might be a couple of little wounds” — the
governor has faced a strained dynamic ever since , crossing Trump, who
believed he was responsible for DeSantis’ rise.
A White House official described the Trump-DeSantis relationship as
“fine” ahead of the leaders’ joint appearance.
The White House for months has moved in ways that effectively isolated
DeSantis in his own state, working behind the scenes with Florida
lawmakers who refused the governor’s demands on immigration. And
Trump has elevated other Florida Republicans, inviting them to events
in Washington that the governor did not attend.
Also on hand for Tuesday’s event: Rep. Byron Donalds, the
term-limited DeSantis as governor, a not-so-subtle reminder of shifting
Republican loyalties in their shared home state. DeSantis, meanwhile,
has publicly suggested that his wife, Florida first lady Casey
DeSantis, would be a worthwhile successor.
The couple have quietly urged the president to scale back his
involvement in the race. Trump has since made several high-profile
appearances with Donalds.
On Tuesday, Trump declined to answer whether he believes Casey DeSantis
should run for governor.
Ron DeSantis then jumped in, attempting to highlight his loyalty to
Trump. “The thing about it is I endorsed him immediately in January
2024. I raised one of his PACs millions and millions of dollars.”
DeSantis embraces Trump on immigration
No state moved more aggressively to align itself with Trump’s
immigration crackdown than Florida.
Under a new law signed by DeSantis, local police agencies must
cooperate with federal immigration officials — a policy shift that
has helped Florida account for nearly 40% of the 737 agreements
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has signed with local law
enforcement departments since Trump took office, according to agency
data. Earlier this year, DeSantis’ office and ICE announced the
arrest of 1,120 undocumented immigrants over a week in what Florida
called a “first-of-its-kind” statewide operation.
During a visit with Fox News on Friday, DeSantis described the new
Everglades facility as a “one-stop shop” for detaining, processing
and deporting undocumented migrants. When completed, it will hold up to
5,000 beds.
“This is going to be a force multiplier,” DeSantis said, “and
we’re happy to work with the federal government to satisfy President
Trump’s mandate.”
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, offered DeSantis some praise for his
efforts ahead of the visit.
“I mean, Gov. DeSantis, I’ll give him credit. We got that facility
that he’s putting up in Florida. We’ll be filling those beds as
quick as we can, because we need more beds,” Homan told reporters at
the White House.
And Trump on Tuesday said he approves of DeSantis’ for Florida
National Guard judge advocate generals to be deputized as immigration
judges to help expedite deportations.
“Yes, he has my approval. That wasn’t too hard to get,” Trump
said during a roundtable discussion at the new detention facility.
But DeSantis had sought to go further. His office drafted legislation
granting him unprecedented authority to deport migrants using state
resources, a power traditionally reserved for the federal government.
In a rare rejection of the governor’s ambitions by Florida’s
Republican-led legislature, lawmakers declined to cede that power to
DeSantis. Instead, they passed their own immigration package — one
that notably excluded the deportation provision and was crafted in
consultation with the White House, according to state House Speaker
Daniel Perez.
“We were talking to the White House the entire time,” Perez told
CNN on Monday. “The product that we finalized was the result of input
from the House, the Senate, the governor and the White House. Our goal
was to best assist the federal government in doing their job. They
needed beds. And that’s what this bill addressed.”
Perez declined to say whom he worked with in the Trump administration.
The White House declined to comment.
Perez was seen alongside Trump on multiple occasions this year. He
attended the White House Easter Egg Roll and later celebrated the
Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup victory with the president. DeSantis
did not attend either event.
The Floridians in the White House have long memories
As the 2024 Republican primary intensified, DeSantis increasingly
criticized Trump’s first-term immigration record, accusing him of
failing to deliver on his central promise to build a border wall and
force Mexico pay for it.
“If Trump had built the border wall, it would have been very
difficult for (President Joe) Biden to bring in all those many
people,” DeSantis said during a CNN town hall ahead of the Iowa
caucuses. “That’s why you want a wall. It’s a physical fact of
life, that even an open-border president would not be able to get
around, so I will get the job done.”
After Trump defeated DeSantis, the two did not talk for months. Many in
Trump’s orbit harbor ill feelings toward DeSantis, including White
House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who once worked for the governor
before a bitter falling out.
Lately, Trump and DeSantis have maintained a friendly public rapport.
They have golfed together, and DeSantis has vocally defended Trump
during public appearances, reprising the role that first endeared him
to the president during his time in Congress.
Trump opened the roundtable discussion Tuesday by highlighting his
“really great relationship” with DeSantis, although their rivalry
didn’t go unmentioned.
“Ron and I have had a really great relationship for a long period of
time. We had a little off period for a couple of days, but it didn’t
last long,” Trump said, adding, “Lot of respect for each other.”
Returning the praise, DeSantis lauded the president’s leadership.
“You can call him anytime and he wants to be helpful for
governors.”
Trump has taken a personal interest in the detention facility that
DeSantis has moved rapidly to build, the White House official said. The
US Department of Homeland Security has approved the plan to temporarily
repurpose the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport for use as a
detention center. Another site at the Camp Blanding National Guard
training center in northeast Florida is also under consideration,
DeSantis spokeswoman Molly Best said in a statement to CNN.
The airstrip sits in the middle of the Florida Everglades, an ecosystem
dense with alligators, pythons, panthers and marshes that are
notoriously difficult to navigate. Its surroundings have captured the
immigration of many Republicans, including inside the Trump
administration. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested
the location will serve as a natural deterrent for people trying to
escape. DHS posted an image to social media over the weekend of
alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats standing
guard outside a prison.
“Coming soon!” a caption said.
DeSantis floated the idea of a Trump visit when talking with Fox News
on Friday, gesturing toward a runway.
“An invitation from me: We can land Air Force One right there no
problem,” he said. “I think the president would be impressed with
what the guys are doing out here.”
This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.
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