Trump's big day: A feud, a Senate win and "Alligator Alcatraz"
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President Trump tours a migrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" Tuesday in Ochopee, Fla., with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
OCHOPEE, Fla. — President Trump began Tuesday by stoking his on-again feud with Elon Musk and joking about alligators chasing immigrant detainees.
- He later basked in the Senate's passage of his signature tax and spending bill — and enthusiastically lobbed threats toward an array of perceived enemies, from immigrants to the media to Zohran Mamdani, New York City's Democratic nominee for mayor.
Why it matters: Trump and his team seemed to view it as his best day as president — a day when his brash, norm-crushing style was paying off in a series of "wins" in D.C. and Florida, where he visited a new immigration lockup dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."
Reality check: To Trump's critics, it all seemed to capture what they see as his cruel recklessness.
- Some warned that caging thousands of immigration detainees in tents on an airstrip in Florida's Everglades — during summer and hurricane season — was inviting an environmental and humanitarian disaster.
- Trump brushed it off, and state officials pointed out the tents are air-conditioned.
Others noted that congressional analysts estimate 11.8 million Medicaid recipients could lose coverage under his big bill, which the analysts project would add $3.3 trillion to the nation's debt. And core inflation is rising, despite Trump's claims to the contrary.
- "Could this not work out the way we want it to? Yes," a top Trump adviser said of the bill, which already is drawing fire from conservatives in the House who want debt reduction.
- "If it doesn't work, then we have a problem," the adviser said. "And we'll deal with it. No other administration is better equipped to handle crisis."
Zoom out: Trump's White House began the week buoyed by a series of recent events.
- On Saturday, his political committees announced a historic $1.4 billion war chest for the 2026 primaries.
- The day before, the Supreme Court limited lower courts from using nationwide injunctions to block presidential policies nationwide.
- And the weekend before that, Trump had ordered what the administration says were successful strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
- Meanwhile, the stock market has regained the losses suffered after Trump's announcement of tariffs, which have added an additional $100 billion to U.S. coffers.
Trump's chipper vibe was evident early Tuesday, when he stopped to chat with reporters before boarding Marine One.
- Wearing a red, "Gulf of America" cap, Trump threatened to sic DOGE on Musk after the billionaire criticized Trump's megabill.
- "I don't think he should be playing that game," Trump said of Musk, warning that the DOGE "monster" could "eat Elon" by eliminating government subsidies to Musk's companies.
That was the first of what would be seven sessions Trump had with reporters on Tuesday. In subsequent ones, he:
- Threatened to arrest Mamdani if the New York City Democrat is elected mayor and doesn't allow federal immigration officials to arrest undocumented immigrants in the city. Trump also called him a communist. (Mamdani said he wouldn't "accept this intimidation.")
- Threatened to deport U.S. citizens who commit violent crimes, which isn't legal.
- Threatened, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, to prosecute CNN for reporting about an app that warns people of immigration raids.
- Also said CNN should face criminal charges for revealing an initial Pentagon estimate that said the strikes on Iran weren't as successful as Trump claimed. (CNN rejected the notion it did anything improper, noting the app is available to the public and that its report on the bombing assessment emphasized it was preliminary.)
The intrigue: Trump was magnanimous toward Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close ally whom Trump dubbed "DeSanctimonious" when DeSantis challenged him in the 2024 GOP primaries. On Tuesday, Trump called him a friend.
- "We have blood that seems to match pretty well," Trump said at the "Alligator Alcatraz" press conference.
Trump introduced DeSantis to Real America's Voice chief White House reporter Brian Glenn, noting the reporter is the boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a Trump loyalist who has expressed concern about the president's big bill.
- "You think it's easy being with Marjorie?" Trump deadpanned to DeSantis.
- Trump also described his relationship with DeSantis as a 10. Then he joked, "Maybe 9.9, because there might be a couple of little wounds."
When DeSantis asked Trump to remove a bureaucratic hurdle with the Army Corps of Engineers for an Everglades restoration project, Trump quickly granted it.
- "Oh, I would do that. Let me ask myself permission," Trump said, pausing for a moment. "Permission granted! Go ahead and get the thing, get it complete."
Later in the day, the White House said the University of Pennsylvania, under pressure from Trump's administration, had retroactively stripped the records and titles of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
- Thomas' participation in the NCAA women's swim championships in 2022 helped inspire Trump's push against transgender women in women's sports.
Trump then wrapped up the day by announcing Israel had agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza. Trump urged Hamas to accept the deal.
- "Look at the press I'm getting!" Trump crowed to his team at one point, as he kept returning to the cameras and reporters.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to state that the tariffs have added $100 billion to U.S. coffers (not $100 million).
