WEEKLY DEBRIEF: Both Florida senators fail to stop sleepy Trump's slush fund
Your curated summary of the top news from the previous week, plus a look ahead to coming events. And more.
That Was The Week That Was
Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody could have put an end to President Donald Trump’s outrageous $1.776 billion slush fund with their votes this past week. But they didn’t.
During debate, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered an amendment to a budget bill that would have permanently outlawed the so-called “anti-weaponization” fund for MAGA allies.
It was a close vote, losing 49-50. Only one more vote in favor of the amendment would have scuttled Trump’s outrageous self-enrichment scheme that he cooked up with his former personal lawyer and now Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
While three Republicans joined Democrats, Scott and Moody were not among them. Had either of them stepped up, the vote would have been flipped 50-49 and the slush fund would be dead.
Scott will not be up for re-election until 2030, but Moody faces voters this year.
She is in the Senate only because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to fill in for Marco Rubio when he resigned his Senate seat to become Trump’s secretary of state. Moody now must run in a November special election to keep her job, and her vote to support the taxpayer giveaway handed her Democratic opponent in the midterm election a radioactive issue to use against her.
That candidate will either be retired Army Col. Alex Vindman or state Rep. Angie Nixon.
Alligator Alcatraz prisoners say guards deny them food and water
Detainees at Florida’s notorious Alligator Alcatraz immigration jail said guards were denying them food and fresh water until they signed documents presented to them in English that they did not understand.
In an audio recording of a telephone call to an immigration advocacy group heard by The Guardian, more than half a dozen detainees alleged that the water given to them over the last three days was “rotten” and containing mosquito larvae, in an apparent attempt to pressure them to sign.
“They took all the water, and they don’t want to give us water,” one detainee said in the call to a representative of the Workers Circle, an advocacy group that has acted as a liaison between detainees and their families.
You can read the full report here:
How DeSantis signed away a billion dollars for his gulags
Speaking of Alligator Alcatraz, the Miami Herald reports that DeSantis has approved at least 55 contracts over the past year worth $1 billion for state-run concentration camps, including the Everglades boondoggle.
The bulk of the money went to Alligator Alcatraz, even though the facility will soon be shuttered. The rest to the so-called Deportation Depot. According to the newspaper:
DeSantis administration officials have always known the price tag for the projects would be enormous, telling the Federal Emergency Management Agency in September that it would cost more than $1.7 billion to operate the two facilities over a two-year period. FEMA agreed to reimburse the state a maximum of $608 million across both facilities.
But the full extent to which the state continued to sign expensive contracts without competitive bidding processes — even as it became clear much of the costs would not be reimbursed by the federal government — has not been previously reported.
The Herald traced about five dozen private vendor contracts worth $991 million directly to the maintenance and operation of the two state-run detention facilities, most of which the state hasn’t yet paid out. More than $824 million was intended for Alligator Alcatraz.
You can read the full Miami Herald report here (it may require a subscription):
Trump once again passed out during a meeting in the Oval Office this week, marking at least the 13th time he’s fallen asleep in public gatherings, according to news sources.
The White House does not agree with this, as you would expect. They say he is only “resting his eyes” or blinking.
The truth: During a Thursday meeting, he was filmed with his eyes fully closed, repeatedly tilting forward and slumping slightly to his side.
Most of us call that napping.
It pays to donate to Trump’s ballroom—biggly
More than half of the identified donors to Trump’s White House ballroom have won new or expanded federal contracts worth more than $50 billion during the past six months, according to a report released this week.
Fourteen of the 27 known corporate donors to the $400 million project, which would replace the demolished East Wing, have seen their government business grow in that time frame, according to the report from Public Citizen.
As it turns out, most of those same companies are also facing federal enforcement actions over alleged wrongdoing or have had such actions suspended by the Trump administration since the start of Trump’s second term, the nonprofit revealed.
See the full report from Public Citizen here:
Trump gave Gov. Ron DeSantis a pat on the head this week for naming Palm Beach’s airport after him.
As the Florida Phoenix reported:
Gov. Ron DeSantis is “very good” and has bestowed a “great honor” upon Donald Trump by renaming the airport neighboring Mar-a-Lago after him, the 47th president said.
Trump’s praise for the Florida governor — previously rare for his former presidential opponent — comes one week after state lawmakers agreed to spend $2.75 million to rebrand the Palm Beach International Airport.
“Ron’s good. He’s a friend of mine. He just named an airport after me,” Trump told the New York Post. “They named the Palm Beach International Airport the Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
“That’s a great honor,” he added.
There’s speculation that if Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is not confirmed by the Senate—and that is possible—DeSantis could be in the running for that job. He’ll need to find work somewhere. The lame-duck governor’s term of office is up at the end of the year.
Meme of the Week
Quote of the Week
“The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.”
—P.J. O’Rourke
Letter of the Week
Since 2016, the GOP has been on a campaign to reverse the result of the Civil War and the subsequent Reconstruction. Except for the reunification of the Union, the MAGA agenda aims to reverse all successes of Reconstruction. They are busy nullifying the 14th and 15th Amendments and, effectively, the so-called Treaty of Appomattox. Essentially, we are now re-litigating the Civil War. If you haven’t noticed that fact, you just haven’t been paying attention.
Charles G. Masi
Looking Ahead
When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead.
June 7. Spain’s famous “Baby Jumping Festival” is today. In the streets of the town of Castrillo de Murcia, infants born in the previous year are placed on mattresses, then grown male adults dressed in colorful clothes run and leap over the babies to scare the devil out of them. Try that here and you’d be arrested. Even in Florida.
June 8. It’s National Upsy Daisy Day, a time to not let small annoyances of everyday life stop you from enjoying the moment—you know, irritations such as knowing your state celebrates the lives of Confederate traitors and the Florida Legislature has still not named the flamingo the state bird.
June 9 is Donald Duck Day, a huge holiday in Florida, celebrating the birthday of the world’s most famous duck, who, oddly, wears a hat and jacket but no pants. There are other famous ducks, but they all have to good taste to wear trousers.
June 10. Ballpoint Pen Day, an important holiday for scribblers.
June 11. The 2026 World Cup games begin, the first at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Game time is 3 p.m. (EDT).
June 12 is the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre. On this day in 2016, 49 people were murdered and another 58 wounded in the downtown Orlando night spot, the majority gay and of Latino descent.
June 12 is also the deadline for Donald Trump’s name to be removed from the Kennedy Center, and it is the deadline set by Miami Federal Judge Kathleen Williams for Trump and his AG, Todd Blanche, to respond to allegations of fraud in the now infamous creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund.
Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines
In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.
Has Trump stopped taking hair-loss meds and, if so, what’s that about?
Democratic candidates for Florida Legislature need our help. Here’s how to do it
Today in Florida we celebrate Jefferson Davis’ birthday -- and other atrocities in the news
UPDATE: Legislature OKs property tax cuts; now it will go to the voters
Thanks for your support
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog.
Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.
J.C. Bruce
Share Tropic Press!
As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.
That’s a problem you can help solve.
With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.
If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.
This is how we make a difference
There are 140 Florida House and Senate seats up for grabs in the midterm elections, and Democrats have been recruited from all over the state to step up and run against the Republican supermajority that dominates state government. These candidates need our help. Specifically, each of them is facing a June 12 deadline to pay their qualifying fees to get on the ballot. You can make a difference by pitching in. Here’s where to do it:
Dear J.C., You are back to using that grumpy looking photograph, and right at the part of the column where you are thanking those who have taken paid subscriptions. It's like, Thanks, dammit. Instead, you should be using that other, smiling, photograph, especially at a time when we all should be joyously thankful that Palm Beach claimed the honors from re-naming its airport. Now the rest of us need not worry about the Trump name going on an important airport, or one that most of us might have to use. Signed, Deep Relief in Maine