How Donald Trump relocated the White House to Florida – L’Express

For weeks, political life in the United States has moved from Washington to the south, more precisely to Florida, to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s very select golf club. As at the court of Versailles, it is a perpetual parade of personalities who come to court him, ask for a job, a favor or just to show off. The club is “the Center of the Universe”, the future president proclaimed on social networks with his usual modesty. But for once, he’s barely exaggerating.

One day, we meet Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, at a gala dinner; the next day, Jeff Bezos, from Amazon; Italian leader Giorgia Meloni; or even Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, who came in disaster to try to calm things down after the threat of an increase in customs duties. Elon Musk has settled in and is flitting everywhere. Just last week, Donald Trump hosted a dinner of Republican governors, a group of conservative elected officials in Congress… “Everyone wants to be friends with me,” he boasted during a press conference. “The big bosses, the big bankers, they all call me. The complete opposite of 2016,” he concludes, delighted.

It is also under the gold of the Mar-a-Lago tea room that he established his headquarters and selects the future members of his team. We concoct lists of names for him and when a candidate catches his attention, we show him videos of his TV appearances on the big screen. Every minister must be telegenic! But the president and former television host is above all looking for individuals of unfailing loyalty, with whom he maintains personal relationships. In 2016, after his surprise victory against Hillary Clinton, he recruited people he did not know for his government. Relations quickly turned sour and he fired them all. They took revenge by publishing murderous books about their experience. This time, he favors hiring people he trusts, particularly Floridians, whom he has met in the salons of Mar-a-Lago or on the golf courses.

Floridian connection

In the next administration, the Sunshine State will wield unprecedented influence. In addition to the election for the first time of a president from the third largest American state (Trump changed his residence from New York to Palm Beach in 2019), six Floridians were chosen for key functions. Marco Rubio, the senator of Cuban origin will become Minister of Foreign Affairs (Secretary of State). Daytona Beach Representative Mike Waltz will serve as National Security Advisor. Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of the state, is propelled to the head of the Department of Justice after the withdrawal of another Floridian, Matt Gaetz, following sexual accusations. John Phelan, a Palm Beach financier and big donor, is secretary of the Navy. Finally, Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s campaign strategist, also from Florida, was named President Trump’s chief of staff.

The Sunshine State also takes over senior civil servant positions. The Public Health Administrator, the heads of NASA, the Security and Exchange Commission and the Public Health Protection Agency all come from Florida. Just like several White House advisors and No. 2 at the Department of Justice, Todd Blanche, the lawyer who defended the president during his trial in New York.

“It’s not unusual for a president to surround himself with people from his corner. Jimmy Carter did that with Georgia,” observes Richard Mullaney, director of the Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University. Ronald Reagan had co-opted Californians. And George W. Bush, Texans. “But this time, the number of members from Florida is significant. And they are in charge of key positions like Justice and the State Department.” Particularly important ministries for the future president.

This Floridian tropism can be explained in part for geographical reasons. Since leaving Washington in 2021, Donald Trump has spent a lot of time at his Mar-a-Lago property. There he frequented local republicans, many of whom regularly made the pilgrimage to come see him. He also plays golf with all sorts of multimillionaires who take up winter quarters around Palm Beach and have contributed generously to his campaign. As a result, at least eight ambassadorial positions – Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Israel, etc. – were awarded to individuals, mostly donors, linked to Florida. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the ex-girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., the eldest Trump who migrated with him to the super-rich Jupiter enclave near Mar-a-lago, got the ambassadorship in Athens, probably to console her for being dumped…

The “floridization” of the administration is also due to the metamorphosis of the State. Ten years ago, it was a swing state voting alternately Democratic and Republican. But since 2016, he has turned Trumpist. For six years, Governor Ron DeSantis has made it a laboratory for conservative policies, then adopted as the dogma of the Republican Party. He pushed for anti-abortion laws, authorized the carrying of weapons without a license, launched a crusade against wokism – which resulted in the blacklisting of books for young people, considered scandalous by ultraconservatives, and by a change in school programs… Above all, he opposed confinement and federal measures to wear masks, which instantly made him a hero of the extreme right. The governor also encouraged Americans to move to the “free state of Florida.” With success since, today, the Republicans have a million more registered voters on the electoral rolls than the Democrats and control all branches of local power.

Between sunbathing and populism

This populist turn has allowed the emergence of new political talents. Susie Wiles, a well-known local consultant, recruited many to build Trump’s campaign team – which won the state by 13 points in November, up from three points four years earlier. “The Sunshine State has shown the way on immigration, education, Covid; it has established standards in terms of policies to be carried out, deciphers Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist. Florida has become the center of the movement Maga (Make America Great Again)the epicenter of the Republican Party and now the epicenter of power nationally. This is Florida’s political golden age.” In an interview, Alex Rizo, elected to the local congress, adds: “For a long time, the region was synonymous with beaches and sunbathing. But thanks to the success of the conservatism model, it is no longer just a vacation destination, but an international center of finance, business and politics.”

Will all these immigrants from Palm Beach reshape Washington into Florida again? They will definitely try. Pam Bondi, the justice minister, a longtime supporter of the president and one of his lawyers during his first impeachment in 2020 declared that she would fire “bad prosecutors”, like Governor DeSantis who dismissed two elected Democratic prosecutors from their positions. Dave Weldon, a doctor nominated to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is highly critical of certain vaccines that he links to autism, even though this theory has never been proven. And Mehmet Oz, in charge of the department of health insurance for seniors, has become known for his promotion of questionable weight loss treatments. He also praised the merits of the very controversial hydroxychloroquine against Covid.

As for Mar-a-Lago, a rococo palace inaugurated in 1927 and acquired by Donald Trump in 1985, it is likely that it will remain the “winter White House”. Donald Trump went there more than 130 times during his first term to relax and play golf. He notably received Chinese President Xi Jinping there. Republican strategist Ford O’Connell laughs: “A lot of foreign leaders must be saying to themselves that they would do well to take up golf!”