President Donald Trump personally thanked Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) at a roundtable during his visit on Tuesday to the state’s new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The president stated that the relationship has been a “strong one for a very long time” despite DeSantis and Trump’s competitive history, with DeSantis also running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election.
“You’re my friend, you’ll always be my friend, and we may have some skirmishes even in the future. I doubt it, but we’ll always come back because we have blood that seems to match pretty well,” Trump said.
DeSantis endorsed Trump after dropping out of the race in January 2024, and their relationship appears to have improved since. Continuing his support, DeSantis complimented Trump’s strike on Iran from last month.
“As somebody who was serving on active duty in Iraq back in the day, we witnessed the number of our troops that were killed or wounded by the Iranians,” DeSantis said. “We know that they are a militant, Islamic regime that was hellbent on getting nuclear weapons, and under Joe Biden, they were about to get nuclear weapons.”
Trump was accompanied to the Everglades by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, DeSantis, and other officials. DeSantis welcomed other members of the Florida government, including Trump’s endorsement for DeSantis’s replacement, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). DeSantis is not allowed to run for reelection due to term limitations.
Other members present were Republican state House Speaker Daniel Perez and Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson. Trump also took the time to call out Joe Biden, claiming the former president wanted Trump detained at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
‘BIDEN WANTED ME IN HERE:’ TRUMP SAYS INSIDE CAGED ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ DETENTION SITE
“It didn’t work out that way. But he wanted me in here, that son of a b****,” Trump said during the tour.
The detention center is set to open in less than 24 hours at its roughly half-capacity of 5,000 beds. It is estimated that it will cost $450 million to run for one year.