It was one of the most encouraging political developments of Summer 2025. The New York Times ran the story yesterday headlined, “On Pivotal Day for His Bill, Trump Leaves Washington for ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’” In short, the Trump-DeSantis rift appears to have been bridged with a thousand yards of chain link fence in the middle of the world’s largest swamp.*
On Tuesday, President Trump departed D.C. (as the Times noted, during a pivotal political moment) for his home state of Florida. But not headed to Mar-a-Lago. He was headed for the Everglades National Park, where he met Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Pay attention: it was the first time the two men have appeared together in public since Trump resumed the presidency on January 20th. It’s important.
Sprawling across 1.5 million acres, Florida’s Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States and the only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles cohabitate in the wild. Known as the “River of Grass,” it hosts a slow-moving sheet of water 60 miles wide and over 100 miles long— so vast it can be seen from space without Hubble help. The Everglades is home to more than 360 species of birds, including the elusive snail kite, the world’s smallest falcon, and other biological oddities like the inscrutable Skunk Ape, which you can learn all about at Dave Shealey’s World Famous Skunk Ape Research HQ in unpronounceable Ochopee.
Brazil claims to have the “biggest” swamp in the world, by area, its so-called “Pantanal,” but that place is garbage. The Everglades beats it hands down in all other categories. In less well-known stats, it also boasts the world’s largest continuous stand of sawgrass —delicious in sandwiches, but chew delicately— and contains more species of orchids than the entire state of Alaska has flowering plants. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Wetland of International Importance, and a Biosphere Reserve, the Everglades holds more simultaneous conservation designations than any other ecosystem on the planet.
One of America’s 63 official National Parks, the Everglades is not your average hike. It’s a vast, swampy labyrinth with no trails, no fresh water, no cell service, no restrooms, no illustrated park maps, and a whole host of adventurous hazards like venomous snakes, deep muck, alligators, and heatstroke-inducing humidity. Even seasoned outdoorsmen need serious prep: GPS, maps, water filtration, bug repellent, food, a flat-bottom airboat, and a float plan filed with someone responsible. Be prepared to encounter blood-sucking mosquitoes as big as a medium-sized Doberman shepherd.
On July 1st, President Trump took reporters deep into the Everglades to unveil what may be the most Florida thing since bath salts or hanging chads: a rapidly constructed $450 million migrant detention complex dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” Flanked by Governor DeSantis and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump strolled past chain-link cages and gator-infested swampland, grinning delightedly as he declared, “Biden wanted me in here… that son of a b––.”
The quip wasn’t just bravado, it was a scorched-earth reminder of Trump’s survival tour of politically weaponized prosecution. The site, built atop the remote and long-abandoned Dade-Collier International airstrip, will house up to 5,000 migrants and is surrounded by alligators, crocodiles, skeeters, quickmud, ten-pound South American lizards, and invasive pythons.
President Trump offered tactical advice to getaway detainees: “Don’t run in a straight line. Zigzag from the gators.”
Whether for immigration deterrence or political theater, “Alligator Alcatraz” was pure Trump, a gift-wrapped Sunshine State present that proved irresistible and finally broke the ice: pure Trumpian spectacle, symbolism, and score-settling swamp justice.
The men’s frigid relationship thawed faster than a CO2-infused glacier.
“You’re my friend and you’ll always be my friend,” Trump assured DeSantis as he kicked off a roundtable discussion 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.”
The President gave a nod to the now-settled feud: “We had a little off period for a couple of days, but it didn’t last long. We have a lot of respect for each other.”
Trump rated his newly mended 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.”
In one dramatic moment of conciliation, Governor DeSantis offered for the State’s engineers to build a needed water reservoir since, only slightly boastingly, Florida’s emergency-response teams work faster than the Army Corps of Engineers. Trump jokingly asked himself for permission and accepted the generous offer on the spot:
CLIP: DeSantis offers to help finish building the federal detention center in the swamp (0:28).
The political ramifications of the country’s most popular President working alongside the Nation’s most popular governor are limitless.
Trump, the experienced CEO-president, understands that even the strongest brand must plan for succession. DeSantis, about to term out in Florida, arrives with executive chops, a loyal donor base, and a national profile sharpened by pandemic policy wars. And while DeSantis famously rejected the idea of a VP slot in 2024, that was before Trump crushed the indictments, Biden flamed out, and MAGA consolidated under a more imperial second-term presidency.
Assuming the détente holds —and both men appear to want it— Ron DeSantis faces unusually fair political tailwinds as he nears the end of an astonishing eight-year ascent from relative obscurity to international prominence. In 2018, he was a first-term congressman with a small Fox News following. By 2026, he’ll have completed two terms as one of the most aggressive and effective governors in the country, having transformed Florida from a bruised purple battleground into the GOP’s cherry-red stronghold.
A Navy JAG by training and a tactician by instinct, DeSantis brings both legal and executive experience to the table— traits that make him dangerously flexible in a Trump administration. Trump could slot him almost anywhere: Attorney General, Secretary of State, Defense, HHS— even, as he quipped this week, helming the Federal Reserve. The joke landed, but the subtext was serious: DeSantis is versatile, dangerous, and trusted again. If loyalty holds, Trump may treat him not just as a tool of policy, but as an heir in grooming.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ bench hosts Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer. So.
““We had a little off period for a couple of days, but it didn’t last long. We have a lot of respect for each other.””
I have A LOT OF RESPECT FOR BOTH AMERICAN LOVING MEN!
ASWELL AS THE MAN WhO WORE E.G.+A 20years ago.
His moniker is “Hillbilly”. As some called me 70 years ago; but I lived on flat land; no hill near by except Signal!
A good place to send all the Antifa Bolshevik scum and Latino Bottom Feeders who beat police officers all wearing their Jump Suits with Numbers on them