Donald Trump visited the new “Alligator Alcatraz” illegal immigrant holding center in the swamps of Florida Tuesday and toured the facilities with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Sunshine State Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Although the president and the governor clashed during the ’24 presidential campaign—with Trump taking to calling his opponent “Desanctimious”—things took a nicer turn on this trip.
“You will always be my friend,” the president said in a news conference after the tour.
🚨 PRESIDENT TRUMP: "Ron [DeSantis], I would like to thank you, personally. You're my friend. You will always be my friend."
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 1, 2025
"We may have some skirmishes even in the future - I doubt it - but I will always come back. We have blood that seems to match pretty well. We have a… pic.twitter.com/F7DAFkKetk
"We may have some skirmishes even in the future - I doubt it - but I will always come back. We have blood that seems to match pretty well. We have a relationship that's been a very strong one."
Have You Ever Heard of Anything More Florida? Sunshine State Breaks Ground on 'Alligator Alcatraz'
As we reported, Alligator Alcatraz is a “one-stop shop” designed to help the Trump administration enforce its illegal immigration priorities:
Alligator Alcatraz: the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. pic.twitter.com/96um2IXE7U
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 19, 2025
DeSantis has been all-in on Trump’s efforts despite their past dust-ups:
“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.
Trump was evidently feeling jocular, which is not surprising considering the One Big Beautiful Bill got through the Senate Tuesday, and joked about the safety of the facility, considering it’s surrounded by a swamp full of dangerous predators.
Must-watch:
🚨 LOL! President Trump gives illegal aliens advice for how to avoid the gators at Alligator Alcatraz
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 1, 2025
"We're gonna teach them how to run away, if they escape prison. Don't run in a straight line, run like this."
🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/iIZO8fCpC8
Trump and DeSantis seemed to be on the same page here, where the governor talked about the idea of deputizing Florida National Guard soldiers as immigration judges:
🚨WOW — President Trump and Governor DeSantis just AGREED that Florida National Guardsman should be repurposed as immigration judges!
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 1, 2025
This is HUGE for mass deportations! pic.twitter.com/pRXeAk2FeW
To me, seeing Trump and DeSantis working together is a positive development. They are both warriors on the same team, and for the team to be at its best, they need to be operating in concert. Ron DeSantis was the single most effective, fair and frankly wise governor in the nation during the COVID crisis, something I will never forget because I suffered under the worst offender, CA Gov. Gavin Newsom. I like so many—including AOC and multiple other hypocritical Democrats—took my family to Florida for a spell just to remember what freedom tasted like.
I thank him for that opportunity.
Meanwhile, Trump, as we all know, saved the country from four more years of Biden malaise/corruption/decline. I like these two guys combining forces much better than I like watching them battle. Go team!
Trump ended with a reminder of who and what we're really fighting, and it's not each other:
🚨 LMAO! President Trump just clowned on Biden at Alligator Alcatraz
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 1, 2025
“Biden wanted me in here ... Didn't work out that way.
That son of a b*tch.” 🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/hwHfeVfZbL
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