Republican governor of Florida. He challenged Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential primary.
DeSantis ramped up executions while running for president, then paused them once he dropped out. Florida was on track for its deadliest year on record in 2025, responsible for most of a national surge that nearly doubled the previous year's tally.
DeSantis opposes stripping states of the right to regulate AI, arguing that doing so would let big-tech firms run rampant.
In July 2025, eager to get back in MAGA's good graces, DeSantis pitched Florida as the site of the administration's next big immigration-detention project. Using emergency powers, Florida seized land from Miami-Dade county and built a 3,000-bed facility in the Everglades—dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz"—in just over a week. Unlike most civil detention facilities, it is funded by the state (DeSantis allocated $245m) rather than the federal government, and run by Florida's emergency-management agency rather than experienced prison contractors. The facility expects to expand to 4,000 detainees, which would make it America's biggest. It has no running water or grid electricity; water is trucked in and generators keep the power on.
Courts clashed over the facility: one ruled it violated environmental rules, another reprieved it. The Florida Republican Party sells "Alligator Alcatraz" shirts and beer coolers.
Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do so.