‘You’ll always be my friend’

There was no evidence of the unique rivalry between President Donald Trump and Governor Ron Desantis on Tuesday when they gathered in a common cause: to open a center for the detention of immigrants in the marshy heart of Florida.

Trump and his best deputies visited the Everglades, where Florida officials won a victory for his anti-immigration program and positioned the state at the forefront of his repression.

The establishment, which the Republican leaders nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”, should house 3,000 prisoners and do not lead to building eight days.

“It could be as good as real Alcatraz,” Trump told journalists on Tuesday. “It’s a bit controversial, but I don’t care.”

The push behind “Alligator Alcatraz” is not only to keep Florida aligned with Trump on immigration, but also to politically reposition some of the greatest republican players in the state. Desantis, for example, fought vocally with Trump in the presidential primaries of 2024; During the visit on Tuesday, however, he and Trump rented each other.

“You are my friend, and you will always be my friend, and we can have skirmishes, even in the future. I doubt it, but I will always come back, because we have blood that seems quite well,” said Trump.

“I think it’s a 10,” added Trump about their relationship. “Maybe a 9.9. … We hear ourselves very well.”

DESANTIS, not forced, quickly sounded with a recall that he approved Trump as soon as he left the presidential race at the beginning of 2024.

“The thing about this is that I approved it,” said Desantis. “Has collected one of its CAPs to millions and millions of dollars.”

Trump and Desantis, as well as the Secretary of Internal Security, Kristi Noem, visited the installation in a presentation made for the television of the opening of what is one of the largest immigrant detention establishments in the country.

A number of touring media were organizations favorable to Trump, who asked questions that welcomed him or allowed him to protect his program.

A journalist asked him to weigh on the “disastrous manipulation of the border” by the administration of President Joe Biden, while another made him comment on the way in which his “beloved city in New York could well be led by a communist soon”.

“What is your message to Governor Gavin Newsom?” The personality of the right YouTube asked Benny Johnson.

Trump replied that the “first thing” Newsom, the governor of California and a candidate for the potential democratic presidential in 2028, should “came here and learn something”.

The political nuances of the event were difficult to ignore. Among the guests to Trump invited to assist, there was the representative byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida who appeared for the governor in 2026. At the same time, the wife of Desantis, Casey Desantis, continues to consider a competing race for the governor.

During a round table on Tuesday, Donalds – seated a few meters from Desantis – said he “congratulated him” for his work to fight illegal immigration. The moment represented political enemies by reserving their quarrel, at least for the day.

The Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a close ally of Desantis, developed the idea of ​​the Alligator Alcatraz last month, but this obtained a national traction when Desantis made a live visit from the establishment on Friday on “Fox and Friends”, which attracted the Trump administration to the goalkeeper.

Noem and the superior advisor Corey Lewandowski supported the installation, but wanted the opening on Tuesday to be the official deployment of the public, two familiar sources said with the NBC News affair.

“Desantis has upset Noem and Lewandowski with his Fox News visit to the detention site,” said a republican agent familiar with the process. “Noem wanted an event for Tuesday and did not want anyone who had eyes on the site and had to push until Tuesday because she was traveling.”

The republican agent said that Noem’s staff asked Desantis not to do the Fox News tour.

“The DHS team asked Desantis not to do their event on Friday,” added the person. “Desantis did what was best for Desantis and went out in front … Angry against Noem and Lewandowski.”

Another familiar source with the case said that anger does not come directly from the White House, but from Lewandowski.

“He lost his s —” said the person.

The Lewandowski and Desantis political team did not respond to requests for comments. The White House described the assertion of “false news”.

“Leave the false NBC news to write about the baseless gossip following an extremely successful event with President Trump, Secretary Noem and Governor Desantis in Alligator Alcatraz,” said White House spokesman Abigail Jackson in a statement. “Here is the real story that the advanced establishment will play an important role in the realization of the president’s promise to keep the Americans safe and to expel illegal criminals.”

“The president is grateful to work with secretary Noem and Governor Desantis on this project,” she added.

However, the event reported that Desantis publicly reviving his relationship with Trump, and to a certain extent, he was considered a boon for his attempt to find a national political basis for a potential presidential campaign in 2028, while Vice-President JD Vance is largely considered to be the current first cycle.

“No one thought that Trump would adopt it so closely from today,” said a longtime agent of Florida who was at the event. “We didn’t think he would try to undermine it or insult him, but Trump was exaggerated in his praise today. I don’t know what it means, but it was a good day for Ron Desantis.”

The installation of the Everglades gave Desantis and the Republican leaders of the State, including uthmeier, a boost to their fundraising efforts, even if the Democrats have denounced the effort as cruel to those accused of being illegally in the country.

“” Alligator Alcatraz “is an insensitive political blow,” said David Jolly, a former republican member of the congress who presents himself for the governor as a democrat in 2026. “The most urgent challenge of Florida is the crisis of the affordability of housing created by republican leaders, and not immigrants working to support the economy of our state.”

Since the establishment’s announcement, there have also been demonstrations – including a Tuesday for opening – and a trial brought by environmental groups concerned by the impact that this could have on the Everglades.

The installation was made possible by Desantis using the emergency powers that he promulgated in 2023. The state has built which is equivalent to a tent city, hiring a dozen sellers and seizing the land of the county of Miami-Dade on the objections of local leaders. The installation is hosted on a little used landing track which includes a track which, according to Desantis, can be used to quickly fly undocumented immigrants to third countries if the expulsion is deemed appropriate.