President Donald Trump told Gov. Ron DeSantis that he "can't be weak" in the immigration fight against Florida's GOP Legislature, the governor revealed Wednesday.
Trump's encouragement comes as both DeSantis and the Legislature claim they have the president's approval on their separate illegal immigration bills. Though GOP Lawmakers okayed a measure edited by the White House late Tuesday, DeSantis believes it to be too "weak" on immigration and plans to veto it.
"I spoke with the President a number of times throughout the weeks, including the other day," DeSantis said at a Fort Myers press conference Wednesday. "He said, 'You just gotta be strong. You can't be weak, just be strong.'
Trump's approach of offering behind-the-scenes encouragement but not publicly intervening is nothing new. When he nominated embattled candidates like Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz for cabinet positions, he wanted them to "earn" their confirmation without his help, preferring his nominees to prove themselves as "fighters" amid controversy, the Bulwark reported.
While DeSantis is not a cabinet nominee—despite rumors that he would've replaced Hegseth as defense secretary—Trump hasn't spoken on the turf war since thanking DeSantis for calling the special session on Jan. 14. He did not weigh in when lawmakers shut down DeSantis' session in favor of their own, though GOP Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez on Tuesday altered their bill after receiving "technical" input from the White House.
But DeSantis has stayed the course, attempting to follow Trump's advice on projecting strength as he deals with the first conservative dissent from Florida officials since his presidential bid.
"I think my position's been much stronger than the legislature. I think the fact that they did a weak bill and put his name on it was an insult to him because he's been strong on these issues," DeSantis said Wednesday, referring to the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act put forth by Rep. Lawrence McClure and Sen. Joe Gruters.
The TRUMP Act was filed minutes after legislative leaders rapidly adjourned DeSantis's special session on Monday, killing his ten anti-illegal immigration bills. The measure passed both chambers late Tuesday night and will head to DeSantis, who has vowed to veto it.
Unless 27 Senators and 80 Representatives vote to override the veto, the bill will not become law.
