Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis marked President Donald Trumps return to the campaign trail in Fort Myers with a pointed gift aimed squarely at those who have tried and failed to take Trumps life.
The Republican governor presented Trump with a custom gold challenge coin on the airport tarmac Friday, moments after the president stepped off Air Force One.
According to the New York Post, the coin shows a smiling Trump flipping his middle finger, along with the blunt inscription: You missed bitches.
The message referenced the two recent assassination attempts against Trump, both of which he survived.
Trump was wounded in July 2024 when a gunman opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear, and a second attempt at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September was foiled when Secret Service agents discovered a suspected sniper hiding in the bushes near the course.
DeSantis told reporters that the coin was produced by a friend and that he immediately thought of Trump when he saw it.
I told them, I said, I need to get this to the president. Can I please have one to give to him? And so I was able to do it, DeSantis said, underscoring his determination to deliver the token personally.
The gesture was striking given the rocky history between the two Republicans, who went from close allies to fierce rivals during the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Since Trumps return to the White House, DeSantis has steadily moved back into Trumps orbit, backing the presidents agenda and aligning Florida policy with the priorities of the administration.
DeSantis has burnished his pro-Trump credentials by renaming West Palm Beachs airport in Trumps honor and championing a tough-on-border-security approach.
That included the creation of a swampland migrant detention facility nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz, designed to hold illegal migrants for the Trump administration, as well as pushing through aggressive redistricting ahead of the midterm elections to strengthen Republican representation.
The governors gift appeared to energize Trump as he headed into the Fort Myers rally, where he framed the coming midterms as a pivotal test of political momentum.
Ive never seen a midterm with this kind of action, the president said, insisting that Republicans have far more energy than Democrats with just 11 days remaining before voters go to the polls.
Trump reserved some of his sharpest criticism for Democratic Senate hopeful Angie Nixon, who is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida.
He branded Nixon a card-carrying member of the Democrat Socialists of America, using the label to highlight what he described as the radicalism of todays Democratic Party.
The president then listed what he said were some of the most extreme planks of the Democratic Socialists of America platform.
According to Trump, those include abolishing the US Senate, abolishing the Supreme Court of the United States, giving free health care to all illegal aliens, defunding the police, closing all prisons, releasing thousands of violent criminals to rob, rape and kill.
With characteristic sarcasm, Trump mocked the idea that such a candidate could be competitive in a general election.
Why cant I have a candidate like that to run against? he joked, drawing laughter from the crowd and underscoring his view that far-left policies are politically toxic.
Trump also turned his fire on Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, who is running against Rep. Byron Donalds, a conservative Republican the president has endorsed.
I knew Jolly. I knew him as a Republican, Trump said of the former congressman, reminding supporters of Jollys past affiliation with the GOP before his break with the party.
He was thrown out of the party like a dog. We threw him the hell out, Trump continued, claiming, Everybody hated this guy so much he couldnt get him out of there fast enough.
Hes a bad guy, very disloyal person, and hes changed virtually every position he had.
Near the end of the rally, Trump invited both Donalds and Moody to join him on stage, reinforcing his support for the Florida Republicans he wants to see prevail in November.
The move underscored Trumps continued influence over GOP primaries and his determination to shape the partys future in his own image.
Trump also took a moment to boast about his construction and renovation projects in Washington, DC, brushing aside the legal challenges that have dogged him.
So I got sued, he noted dismissively. I dont give a st about it.
He praised the results of the work done on the executive mansion, contrasting it with what he portrayed as decades of neglect.
The White House is beautiful now, the president said, claiming it hasnt been fixed up since 1792.
Trump then pivoted to national politics, renewing his demand that Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota step down from Congress.
He argued that she is not legally entitled to serve because she changed her name when she came from her sthouse country, language that again highlighted his willingness to confront progressive Democrats in stark, unapologetic terms.
The president also addressed the abrupt departure of his short-lived White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, who resigned after delivering only one briefing.
Trump described Zacharia as a poor young woman who freaked out when reporters started screaming at her in the briefing room.
And I said, You know what? There are nicer ways for you to make a living. You want to deal with these maniacs? You can deal with them. There are easier ways for you to live,' he said, casting the Washington press corps as hostile and unreasonable.
His remarks played well with a conservative audience long skeptical of the medias treatment of Republican leaders, particularly Trump.
As the event drew to a close, Trump returned to his central message: turnout and victory.
Lets go out and do what we do best, which is to win, he urged, leaving supporters with a clear directive and a renewed sense of purpose heading into a critical Election Day.
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