MIAMI — It took the building of a pop-up immigration detention center in the middle of the Everglades to bring President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis together for their first joint public event in years.
The president touched down in Florida on Tuesday to tour “Alligator Alcatraz,” a tent and trailer facility for undocumented immigrants that’s expected to house thousands of detainees. The center — which was quickly assembled on an abandoned airstrip in Ochopee, Florida — has drawn the ire of local officials and environmentalists who worry about its effect on the Everglades’ fragile ecosystem.
But it also created a bonding point between DeSantis and Trump, two Republicans who sparred brutally during the 2024 primary. Back then, Trump often criticized DeSantis in deeply emasculating and personal terms, while DeSantis accused Trump of being insufficiently conservative and failing to live up to his promises.
But Tuesday, the president raised his prior battles with DeSantis directly, indicating the relationship had been — mostly — repaired. He even joked DeSantis would make a strong replacement for Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve whose term ends next year.
“You’re my friend and you’ll always be my friend,” Trump said to DeSantis as he kicked off a roundtable after taking a tour of the detention facility. “We may even have some skirmishes in the future, I doubt it. But we’ll always come back because we have blood that seems to match pretty well.”
Asked by reporters about the relationship, Trump joked that he “didn’t notice” the tangling they got in during the election. He described the relationship with the governor as “a 10 — maybe a 9.9 because there might be a couple of little wounds. I think we have a 10. We get along great.”
“We had a little off period for a couple of days, but it didn’t last long,” Trump added. “We have a lot of respect for each other.”
Trump’s Tuesday Florida visit marks the first time in years that he and DeSantis have made a joint appearance, which comes as DeSantis’ political future remains in flux once he term limits out from his office after the 2026 election.
DeSantis was at the White House in March, alongside other GOP governors, when Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education and also delivered a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
But he didn’t attend any of Trump’s campaign events in Florida leading up to the election, even though he fundraised to help him get elected. Still, DeSantis has golfed with the president on several occasions and dined at Mar-a-Lago. Trump also considered nominating him to be Defense secretary when Pete Hegseth’s confirmation was on the rocks.
Early in Trump’s second term, DeSantis has frequently said that Florida needs to “lead” on the president’s policies. He has supported Trump through signing a bill that would make construction of a presidential library easier and another that will rename the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America” in state materials and textbooks. He also has called for replicating DOGE efforts at the state level.
The governor was effusive Tuesday about his support for Trump — a turnaround from 2023, when he said during the primary that Trump criticized all Republicans who didn’t “kiss the ring.” DeSantis also chimed in during a gaggle with reporters to point out he endorsed Trump immediately when he dropped out of the presidential race (though he criticized him soon after) and said Trump’s 2024 campaign had been able to save money in Florida because the state was safe red territory.
“We worked very well on this and other issues,” DeSantis said. “You can call him at any time and he wants to be helpful for governors.”
The event, however, had some undertones of GOP tension. Trump invited several politicians who’ve clashed with DeSantis, including Rep. Byron Donalds, whom he endorsed to be Florida’s next governor, and state Sen. Joe Gruters, whom he endorsed as the next state chief financial officer. Both were seated at the front of the room, as was Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, whom DeSantis railed against during a fight over illegal immigration policy earlier this year.
Also attending the event was Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, the top elected official who has tussled with DeSantis over policy and the state budget.
“You didn’t want to sit up here with us, Daniel?” Trump asked from the front of the room as the roundtable got started.
DeSantis has downplayed Donalds’ candidacy for governor, indicating that his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, would be a better fit to carry on the state’s conservative legacy. She has not made a decision over whether to run and was not at the detention facility opening Tuesday.
The position of chief financial officer is also vacant, though POLITICO previously reported that DeSantis ally state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia is likely to get the job — giving that person a leg up in the 2026 CFO election.
Trump and DeSantis didn’t face questions about their personnel preference differences. DeSantis praised Trump for the plunge in illegal border crossings in the opening months of his presidency and for his push to revamp the census.
Alongside them both was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose administration had criticized DeSantis over abortion limits when she was governor of South Dakota. On Tuesday, she praised DeSantis for stepping up on illegal immigration to support the Trump administration.
“Florida was unique in what they presented to us,” she said, “and I would ask every other governor to do the same thing.”
The idea for “Alligator Alcatraz” first came together because of a plan from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ appointee to the job in February after choosing Ashley Moody for the Senate to replace Marco Rubio.
Uthmeier, who used to be DeSantis’ chief of staff and also ran his presidential campaign, has to run for reelection in 2026 to keep his seat. Speculation has grown in Tallahassee over whether Trump and his orbit will run a GOP challenger.
While Uthmeier didn’t join the president for the tour Tuesday, Trump did praise him for his efforts, and he had a seat at the front of the room for the roundtable.
“You do a very good job,” Trump told Uthmeier. “I hear good things about you from Ron, too. He’s even a good-looking guy. The guy’s got a future.”