Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shocks viewers with 'off duty' new look
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was seen sporting a larger frame as he toured a detention center.
DeSantis appeared on Fox News alongside Steve Doocy to show off his new 'Alligator Alcatraz', a detention center to house immigrants in the Sunshine State.
Wearing a black short sleeved shirt, slim fitting jeans and aviators, DeSantis appeared stockier than he has been in previous years as he toured the facility.
The 46-year-old was noticeably slimmer while campaigning for the presidency last year.
The gain was picked up by one social media user, who commented on the clip saying: 'Ron needs to lose some weight'.
DeSantis had previously spoke about his secret to weight loss, telling Piers Morgan in an interview on Fox that his trick was to avoid sugar.
Speaking in 2023, he said: 'I think the sugar is the biggest issue, because basically if you do sugar, your body burns sugar. If you don't, it burns fat.'
The governor also highlighted the importance of 'working out and just eating halfway decent'.
The weight gain was picked up by one social media user
New York Times writer Maggie Haberman claimed in her book 'Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of America, that Trump had previously called DeSantis fat in private conversations.
DeSantis was questioned about those remarks by Morgan, saying: 'It's interesting, there are a lot of people when they go at you, sometimes they have really good ammunition.
'Like you're a crook. You did this. You did that for me. So for me, they're talking about pudding. Like, is that really the best you got? Okay, bring it on.'
As part of his appearance on Fox with Doocy, DeSantis said his detention center would start processing people who entered the US illegally as of next week.
He said: 'The state of Florida is all in on President Trump's mission. There needs to be more ability to intake, process and deport.'
Environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit against the site, in the heart of the Everglades, to block it being opened.
The lawsuit seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal and state law.
There is also supposed to be a chance for public comment, according to the lawsuit filed in Miami federal court.
Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands.
The lawsuit names several federal and state agencies as defendants, including the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Eve Samples, Friends of the Everglades executive director, in a news release: 'This site is more than 96% wetlands, surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve, and is habitat for the endangered Florida panther and other iconic species.
'This scheme is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.'
A spokesman for the Governor said: 'Governor Ron DeSantis has insisted that Florida will be a force multiplier for federal immigration enforcement, and this facility is a necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a pre-existing airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
27 minutes ago
- NBC News
Trump pushes Senate GOP to pass massive spending bill
President Trump remained in Washington over the weekend to rally Senate Republicans to pass a key spending bill, which he refers to as the 'big, beautiful bill.' It comes after Canada raised steel tariffs on the U.S., escalating the trade war. NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard reports from the White House.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Elon Musk blasts new version of Trump's spending bill as 'utter madness'
Elon Musk reignited his feud with Donald Trump as he tore into the president's spending bill in a blistering social media tirade. The world's richest man condemned Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' as 'utter madness', hours before Senate Republicans are expected to hold an initial vote on the latest version of the bill on Saturday afternoon. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,' Musk wrote in one of his X posts. 'Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.' Trump's massive spending bill was notably the trigger for Musk and the president's dramatic fall out just three weeks ago, with Musk taking issue with the bill's estimated $2.8 trillion spending increases. Musk - who celebrated his 54th birthday Saturday as he slammed Trump's bill - also criticized the impact the bill will have on the energy industry, with Musk recently pushing for a sharp increase in solar energy in the US. Responding to a post that noted the Senate vote 'could wipe out 500 (Giga Watts) of potential energy generation' by 2030, Musk wrote: 'This would be incredibly destructive to America!' 'At the same time, this bill raises the debt ceiling by $5 TRILLION, the biggest increase in history, putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery!' he added in another post. Earlier this month, Musk's opposition to the legislation saw his time in Trump's White House come to an acrimonious end as he tore into the president. Musk had spent the start of the year slashing the federal government's programs through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but saw the $150 billion he claimed to have saved wiped out by the spending increases in Trump's bill. In a shock X post that captured international headlines, Musk vented his fury by writing: '(Trump) is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' Musk also claimed that Trump couldn't have won the 2024 presidential election without him, and said in a post that Trump's bill showed 'such ingratitude.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Mail at the time: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.' Trump's sweeping Big Beautiful Bill encapsulates much of his domestic agenda, covering everything from tax breaks and immigration to national defense and energy. Democrats are united against the bill, with Congressional Republicans - who hold majorities in both the House and Senate - set to decide whether President Trump's signature's domestic policy package will become law. Trump told Republicans to skip their holiday vacations and deliver the bill by the Fourth of July. Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump's first term expire. The legislation contains roughly $3.8 trillion in tax cuts. The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill. It temporarily would add new tax breaks that Trump campaigned on: no taxes on tips, overtime pay or some automotive loans, along with a bigger $6,000 deduction in the Senate draft for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year. It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 under the Senate proposal. Families at lower income levels would not see the full amount. The bill would also fund the hiring of 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and would provide Homeland Security with a new $10 billion fund for grants for states that help with federal immigration enforcement and deportation actions. For the Pentagon, the bill would provide billions for ship building, munitions systems, and quality of life measures for servicemen and women, as well as $25 billion for the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system. The Defense Department would have $1 billion for border security. To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, Republicans aim to cut back some long-running government programs: Medicaid, food stamps, green energy incentives and others. It's essentially unraveling the accomplishments of the past two Democratic presidents, Biden and Barack Obama.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Senate Republicans scrambling to pass tax-and-spend bill by Trump deadline
The US Senate is preparing for a key procedural vote Saturday as Republicans race to pass Donald Trump's package of tax breaks, spending cuts and bolstered deportation funds by his Fourth of July deadline. Republicans are using their majorities in Congress to push aside Democratic opposition, but they have run into a series of political and policy setbacks. Not all Republican senators are on board with proposals to reduce spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programs as a way to help cover the cost of extending some $3.8tn in Trump tax breaks. Before the expected vote to advance the measure, the White House released a statement saying it 'strongly supports passage' of the bill that 'implements critical aspects' of the president's agenda. Trump himself was at his golf course in Virginia on Saturday with Republican senators, including one of the holdouts, Rand Paul of Kentucky. 'It's time to get this legislation across the finish line,' the Senate majority leader, John Thune, said. The 940-page bill was released shortly before midnight Friday, and senators are expected to grind through the days ahead with hours of potentially all-night debate and countless amendments. Senate passage could be days away, and the bill would need to return to the House for a final round of votes before it could reach the White House. With the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate, leaders need almost every lawmaker on board in the face of essentially unified opposition from Democrats. Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump donor who came out in strong opposition to the House version of the bill, denounced the Senate draft on his social media platform, X, on Saturday. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!' Musk wrote above a comment from a green energy expert who pointed out that the bill raises taxes on new wind and solar projects. 'Utterly insane and destructive,' Musk added. 'It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.' Bernie Moreno, the Republican senator from Ohio, opened the day's session with an impassioned defense of the package that he said had been misrepresented by its critics. 'Read it for yourself,' he said. Senate Democrats intend to do just that, with the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, announcing on social media Saturday afternoon that his party will force the entire bill to be read aloud before a final vote on passage can take place. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer said Republicans had released the bill 'in the dead of night' and were rushing to pass it before the public fully knows what's in it. The weekend session could be a make-or-break moment for Trump's party, which has invested much of its political capital on his signature domestic-policy plan. Trump is pushing Congress to wrap it up, even as he sometimes gives mixed signals, allowing for more time. At recent events at the White House, including on Friday, Trump has admonished the 'grandstanders' among GOP holdouts to fall in line. 'We can get it done,' Trump said in a social media post. 'It will be a wonderful Celebration for our Country.' The legislation is an ambitious but complicated series of GOP priorities. At its core, it would make permanent many of the tax breaks from Trump's first term that would otherwise expire by year's end if Congress fails to act, resulting in a potential tax increase on Americans. The bill would add new breaks, including no taxes on tips, and commit $350bn to national security, including for Trump's mass deportation agenda. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion But the spending cuts that Republicans are relying on to offset the lost tax revenues are causing dissent within the GOP ranks. Some lawmakers say the cuts go too far, particularly for people receiving healthcare through Medicaid. Meanwhile, conservatives worried about the nation's debt are pushing for steeper cuts. Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he remains concerned about the fundamentals of the package and will not support the procedural motion to begin debate. Rand Paul has opposed the measure on the grounds that it will raise the nation's debt limit by $5tn. And Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican pushing for deeper cuts, said he needed to see the final legislative text. The release of that draft had been delayed as the Senate parliamentarian reviewed the bill to ensure it complied with the chamber's strict 'Byrd rule', which bars policy matters from inclusion in budget bills unless a provision can get 60 votes to overcome objections. That would be a tall order in a Senate with a 53-47 Republican edge, and Democrats unified against Trump's bill. Republicans suffered a series of setbacks after several proposals were determined to be out of compliance by the chief arbiter of the Senate's rules. One plan would have shifted some food stamp costs from the federal government to the states; a second would have gutted the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But over the past days, Republicans have quickly revised those proposals and reinstated them. The final text includes a proposal for cuts to a Medicaid provider tax that had run into parliamentary objections and opposition from several senators worried about the fate of rural hospitals. The new version extends the start date for those cuts and establishes a $25bn fund to aid rural hospitals and providers. Most states impose the provider tax as a way to boost federal Medicaid reimbursements. Some Republicans argue that is a scam and should be abolished. The nonpartisan congressional budget office has said that under the House-passed version of the bill, some 10.9 million more people would go without healthcare and at least 3 million fewer would qualify for food aid. The CBO has not yet publicly assessed the Senate draft, which proposes steeper reductions. Top income-earners would see about a $12,000 tax cut under the House bill, while the package would cost the poorest Americans $1,600, the CBO said.
