Trump praises DeSantis over calls for special session on immigration
Donald Trump praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for calling for a special state legislative session to implement the president-elect's immigration agenda.
“Thank you Ron, hopefully other governors will follow!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday.
The president-elect was responding to a proclamation DeSantis posted on X calling for a special session on Jan. 27.
“State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation’s immigration laws,” DeSantis told reporters on Monday. “In order to do that effectively we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials. There also needs to be measures to hold people accountable for violating our anti-sanctuary policies and that Florida needs to make sure that we don’t have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally.”
The exchange between the two leaders is another indication the working relationship between Trump and DeSantis continues to mend after the two went head-to-head in the Republican presidential primary.
However, the governor quickly received pushback from Republican leaders in the state legislature, who dubbed the governor’s move as “premature.”
“Florida’s constitution compels our attendance at a special session unilaterally called by the Governor,” Florida state Senate President Ben Albritton (R) and state House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) . “However, the power to convene a special session also resides with the presiding officers. As the people’s elected representatives, the Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider.”
DeSantis responded to the criticism in a post on X, saying “State and local officials in Florida will actively facilitate the Trump Administration’s policies against illegal immigration, and to do that we need to immediately set aside and approve the necessary funding and resources now.
“As part of the special session I called for January 27, the week after President Trump is sworn in, I am calling on the legislature to appropriate funding for detention, relocation, transportation infrastructure, local law enforcement support, and everything else needed for Florida to carry out this mission.”