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President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, appear to be circling something else.
The president dismissed their previous feud in July 2025 that stemmed from their 2024 election rivalry, and the two have publicly charted a new course for their relationship as Florida supports Trump’s policies.
For example, DeSantis endorsed several agenda items from the Trump administration, including adopting the “Make America Healthy Again” plan that Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services launched.
As a result, DeSantis’ state launched its “Healthy Florida First” program in January, a statewide effort to test for contamination in food products that DeSantis said was inconsistent with the administration’s priorities.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discusses the state budget proposal during a news conference at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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“Our ‘Healthy Florida First’ initiative promotes innovation, ensures accountability, and empowers Floridians to make healthy choices for their families. Transparency is critical to that mission,” DeSantis said in a statement Monday. “Today, First Lady Casey DeSantis, Florida surgeon Dr. Joseph Ladapo, and I were proud to announce that Florida has expanded this initiative by testing additional products marketed to children. Through these transparency efforts and our long-standing commitment to medical freedom, Florida is doing our part to help Make America Healthy Again.”
DeSantis’ relationship with Trump has been strained as DeSantis became a contender in the 2024 election, prompting Trump to say the Florida governor “desperately needs a human transplant” after DeSantis officially announced his White House bid.
President Donald Trump talks with Gov. Ron DeSantis during a meeting at “Alligator Alcatraz,” the new immigration detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Center, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In June 2023, DeSantis said in an interview with “Good Morning New Hampshire” that Trump’s attacks were “childish,” and said he believed it contributed to his loss in the 2020 election.
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But the pair appear to be putting their past behind them in 2025, with Trump confirming that the pair have “great respect” for each other.
“You’re my friend and you’ll always be my friend,” Trump told DeSantis during a trip to Everglades, Florida, to open an immigration detention center in July 2025. “We may have conflicts in the future, I doubt it. But we’ll always come back because we have the same blood that seems right.”
DeSantis and Trump visit “Alligator Alcatraz” in Ochopee, Florida on July 1, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-ReynoldsAFP via Getty Images)
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The White House and DeSantis were contacted by Fox News Digital for comment.
Although DeSantis will not run for governor in 2026 when his term expires, he has decided in the 2026 midterm elections, and he told opposition analyst Mark Levin that he believes Democrats will want to develop a strategy to impeach Trump, if Democrats regain control of the House.
“They will do whatever they can – including, perhaps, trying to commit another crime – to be able to throw sand in the gears to prevent the president from being able to carry out the duties he was appointed to,” DeSantis said in an interview on Tuesday’s “The Mark Levin Show.”
