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.
