This is a transcript of remarks at Dade–Collier Training and Transition Airport (July 1, 2025) where President Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Governor Kristi Noem, and others discuss a new Florida-operated migrant facility and broader immigration/border security measures. Key points: the facility was stood up rapidly (DeSantis: eight days), Florida is presenting a state-led model for holding and returning migrants (DeSantis: Florida accounts for ~20% of U.S. immigration arrests), and the speakers promote wider adoption of the Florida approach by other (primarily Republican) states. The transcript also includes shorter exchanges on a pending Senate bill, Medicaid, foreign policy (Russia/Ukraine, Netanyahu visit), and election/census-related remarks.
Questions this video answers
Eight days.
About 20% of all immigration arrests nationwide.
2,000 more.
Chapters
Hello, everybody. The trip was nice and the job they've done is fantastic. And this is what you need. And Ron worked beautifully with Christy and all of the people at Homeland Security and got it done in how many days, Ron?
Eight days. A new facility was up and running. So.
It can be. I mean, you don't always have land so beautiful and so secure. We have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don't have to pay them so much, but I wouldn't want to run through the Everett Lakes for long. We'll keep people where they're supposed to be. This is a very important thing. We're setting records at the board. You know, we had no people come through last month. Zero. No people. But we're going to keep it that way. So Ron did great and I want to thank him.
Well, look, We thank you, Mr. President. Thanks for your leadership. The border, you did that quicker than we knew you'd do it. But you did it so quick, which is great. But Biden let in how many millions and you got to take care of them. And so this is one example of state operating this. The feds are approving it, supporting it. We're also going to have 2,000 more at camp Landing, which is our National Guard site. And we're the only state in the country that mandates our state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ice. And it's made a huge difference on any given day. Florida constitutes about 20% of all immigration arrests nationwide. And that's just because of the partnership that we have. So I think it's great that the president's here. What I would just say is don't let Florida be the only state.
We've got very red states that should.
Be doing this just as much as Florida is doing. That will increase their numbers. And then what happens is you'll have a lot of people that will deport on their own because they don't want to end up in an alligator Alcatraz or some of those other places. So I think this is a model, but we need other states to step up.
I was going to ask you, would this be enticing for other states to come up with their own model?
They are doing it. We have Louisiana doing it big. Alabama is doing it. We have a lot of states. They seem to be red states. There are not too many blue states for whatever reason, you know, but the red states, Republican run states are doing it. The blue states don't do very well at security and policing, unfortunately. What Would you say, Kristen?
You know, I would say that exactly right. The governor here has been fantastic in forming this partnership with the Department of Homeland Security. We were looking at different contracts with different vendors and thought, why not go straight to our governors and ask them to help us solve this problem? Florida was unique in what they presented to us. And I would ask every other governor to do the exact same thing. This is unique because we can hold individuals here. They can have their hearings, get due process, and then immediately be flown back home to their home countries. And their home countries are welcoming them, they're setting up loans for houses, they've got food assistance. They're helping to facilitate, welcoming them home. I just got home from Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and they're all excited about getting their individuals back home from the United States.
There is a lot of self deporting. One thing I was actually surprised, but a lot of self deporting. And when you have something like this, even more so. So I'd ask Ron one question. I flew over the Everglades. We did a little circle. I said, let me see. That's a big piece of land. Took us 25 minutes to fly around. Is there potential for enlargement or additional facilities out here?
There may be. I mean, I think what we're doing is because this is an important part of Florida, we're using the existing footprint of this airport. So when you guys go over there, you'll see all the beds, the medical, the galley, everything is on the concrete. We're not using any of the other stuff now, as you'll see, there's a lot of concrete. So there very well may be. I know Secretary Noem and her team have said as soon as the President departs, we'll be open to start receiving folks. And so we'll see what the tempo is. We do have the 2000 in Northeast Florida that will open very soon. So it is possible to do. One of the things I think that is exciting about this is we're offering up our National Guard and other folks in Florida to be deputized to be immigration judges. We're working with the Department of Justice for the approvals. I'm sure Pam will approve. But then you have. I'll have a National Guard judge advocate here. Someone has a notice to appear. Biden would tell them to come back in three years and appear now. You'll be able to appear in like a day or two. So they're not going to be detained, hopefully for all that long. We'll have people here in this facility that can make, you know, it's a bureaucracy. The president's got to deal with the bureaucracy. Now, that Supreme Court ruling was good because that's going to allow him to be able to exercise Article 2 the way founders intended. But you still have bureaucracy. So we want to cut through that so that we have an efficient operation between Florida and DHS to get the removal of these illegals done.
Are you going after the worst of the worst, or are you now arresting.
Anyone who is here?
We're doing the worst of the worst. Always first. And I think it's great government, what we've done. And nobody can ever forget what this group of people, Biden or whoever it was, because, you know, it probably wasn't even Biden. I don't think he knew what that was. Biden, whoever it was, what this. What this group of people, a small group that circled the Resolute desk, what they did to this country. Think of it. What? Your time. All the time you have to waste doing this. It's an unforced error. We had nothing. We had no problem with this. There was never anything like this. We had great borders. It was bad when I came in. Within three months, I fixed some. This is in 2016. Now I come in. The difference is this was 20 times worse. Their open border policy did so much damage to our country, and we're fixing it, but the effort and the money and all the things that it takes to do it, it's just like an unforced error.
Yes, Mr. President. 2018, you suggested putting alligators in the Rio Grande to prevent crossings in Texas. Is this a dream come true for you, sir?
Well, I was thinking about that. I must say it was meant more as a joke, but the more I thought of it, the more I liked it, if you want to know the truth. And they were seriously. They were actually crocodiles. They were crocodile from Africa. They are a step beyond. But no, that was really meant as a joke, but a lot of people liked it, and a lot of people think we should do it, frankly.
The Senate, it appears, is about to vote on.
I hear we're doing well, Ron. I hear we're doing well.
Are you confident this can get.
I don't know. What does confident mean when you're like, when you have one vote and you have 100 people going to vote? I think so. I think it's going to be the greatest bill ever passed, even for you as an example. Tremendous amount of Homeland Security money. Tremendous amount. It's going to keep the border secure because, you know, we have them secure now, but we need to build more wall. I built almost 600 miles of wall. We need more wall. And all of that's covered in this bill. This bill is amazing for everybody. It's an amazing bill for Florida, too. Really great for Florida.
Are there concerns about the Medicaid, though, cuts, though?
No, no, we're not going to be playing with Medicaid. Only waste, fraud and abuse. Yeah, yeah. The Democrats have it wrong.
Yeah.
Waste, fraud and abuse. In fact, if you look at what's gone on, we've. We take care of Medicaid, we take care of Medicare. They will blow Medicare and Medicaid because they have no idea what they're doing. Just like they don't have any idea what they did on the border. They have no idea Medicaid is in big trouble with the Democrats.
Anyone who loses their health care coverage, that is because of waste, fraud and abuse.
Fraud only. Waste, fraud and abuse, which is what everybody wants.
Mr. President, Russia has about 50,000 troops stationed outside of Sumy in Ukraine. What will you do if Russia authorizes an offensive?
We'll see what happens. I'm watching it very closely.
Mr. President, about Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit next week.
What are you hoping to get out of that?
Do you think there'll be any progress?
It's going to be a very quick celebration. We had a great hit. It was a obliteration, okay? Now it turns out it was an obliteration. You know, they demean CNN mostly in the New York Times, fake New York Times. They demean these great soldiers. They went over there 17 hours flying, and they hit bullseye after bullseye after bullse blew up. Everybody saw it. Then they get back and CNN said, well, they did okay, but maybe it wasn't. Let me tell you, it was beyond obliteration. They can't. Nobody could even get down there. The tunnels are busted. Everything fell into the well. It was a total and complete obliteration. And we should celebrate these heroes. And what I'm doing is I'm bringing them, Ron. We're bringing them to Florida or to the White House. I gave them their choice. I think they're going to take the White House.
Probably I shouldn't tell you this, Mr. President.
There's going to be a new bill called Make American Actions Great again.
I love it.
Forcing the U.S. census Bureau to redo the census to actually get an account of how many Americans with proof of citizenship are in our area, in our country. Redistricting some of the House districts. Your thoughts on that.
Well, I'll speak for both of us. We love it. Okay. You didn't like this one? I know all about it. We want to bring our elections back. The election in 2020 was rigged. Millions and millions of votes. It had to do with COVID and a lot of things, but it really had to do with the crooked people. The Democrats are very good at cheating elections. And that's why I said too big to rig. They tried this one too, but after about 902 they gave up too many votes. You know, too big to rig. Ron would love it. I would love it. Christie would love it. That's what they have to do. They have to bring it back and we have to look in Iran. They, they include anybody that happens to.
Be in your state or California. That California would lose like five seats if they did a fair census. And even beyond that, the Biden census gyps Florida of at least one seat. We only got one se in the last census. Are you trying to tell me that Florida only had one seat in that? We should have had at least two. Texas should have had another one. That could be the difference in the House of Representatives in the majority. So I would love for them to redo the census for 26. My legislature will redistrict those lines. We'll get it to where it's fair. But as it's right now, this country is not fairly apportioned. I've got so many more millions of people in Florida that have representation because of that flawed census.
I think it's going to do very well. Well, a lot of people, I don't know if you've heard about it. It's captivated the country. Everybody wants it. It's going to get in, it's going to pass and we're going to be very happy.
Elon Musk is ripping into this bill again. Are you concerned that Republicans are going to be swayed by Musk and his money?
No, I don't think so. I think what's going to happen is Doge is going to look at Musk. And if Doge looks at Musk, we're going to save a fortune. Thank you very much, everybody. I don't think you should be playing that game with me, Mr. President.
