Sunshine state of mind: Trump taps Florida neighbors for top jobs

In his first term, Donald Trump brought the White House to Florida -- inviting the leaders of Japan and China for glitzy summits and staging a regional Caribbean trade conference at his oceanfront club in Palm Beach.

This time around Florida is coming to the White House, as the first ever president elected from the Sunshine State dips into its talent pool for many of his top cabinet picks.

The Republican aims to have figures from Florida in some of the most sensitive and high-profile posts in his administration, as he acknowledges his conservative, southeastern home state's frontline role in pushing his populist, right-wing agenda.

They include Senator Marco Rubio, Trump's pick for secretary of state, staunch ally Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Congressman Mike Waltz as national security advisor.

Trump's campaign strategist Susie Wiles -- a Jacksonville local who has a long and storied history winning elections in Florida -- has been tapped to be his White House chief of staff.

"This is his home state, and we've had the most access to him in the last couple of years," state senator Joe Gruters, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, told the president-elect's local newspaper, the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

"It's all about proximity. These people are able to step up immediately and are committed to his agenda and moving his priorities forward."

- 'Godfather of Florida' -

Daniel Uhlfelder, who ran in the 2022 Democratic primary for Florida attorney general, told the paper Trump was "the godfather of Florida, giving out favors to his cronies, amplifying and rewarding his lieutenants."

Trump, who made his name as a New York real estate mogul, switched his residency to Florida in 2019, and has spent much of his time since leaving the White House in 2021 receiving local officials at Mar-a-Lago, his oceanfront home and base of operations.

Mike Fahey, a political strategist who ran former Rhode Island mayor Steve Laffey's 2024 presidential campaign, describes Florida as a "rich seam" of political and business talent, molded by a diverse populace and dynamic economy.

"The state has generated a number of powerful figures in politics, law and business, many of whom have the kind of experience and expertise that seems a natural precondition for high government office," he told AFP.

Republicans hold every statewide office and have controlled Florida's government for decades.

But it was only under Governor Ron DeSantis that it swung from a closely-fought battleground in presidential elections into a Republican stronghold that handed Trump a 13-point victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

DeSantis -- who ran against Trump to be the 2024 Republican nominee, despite Trump endorsing his successful bid for governor in 2018 -- vowed during his unsuccessful campaign to "Make America Florida," and may yet see that lofty goal realized.

- 'Living nightmare' -

The governor hasn't always seen eye to eye with Trump -- their rivalry grew bitter at the height of the primary campaign -- but he has nevertheless turned Florida into a laboratory of the tycoon's populist agenda.

He has presented himself as a battlefield commander in the cultural wars prosecuted by Trump against "woke" politicians, businesses and professors whom Republicans accuse of wanting to impose their progressive ideology across America.

In his 2022 memoir "The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival," DeSantis talked about the struggle of "we the people" against the liberal establishment.

"What Florida has done is establish a blueprint for governance that has produced tangible results while serving as a rebuke to the entrenched elites who have driven our nation into the ground," he wrote.

Despite its rightward turn, Florida still has a robust opposition, with the state's Democratic Party boasting 4.5 million registered voters.

One of Trump's Florida cabinet picks -- former congressman Gaetz -- has little relevant experience however and is facing sexual misconduct allegations, sparking outrage on the opposite side of the aisle.

"This is what it looks like to Make America Florida -- and it's a living nightmare," Nikki Fried, the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, said in a statement after Gaetz was announced to lead the Justice Department.

"Donald Trump is raiding our state for any Florida Man loyal to him, no matter how incompetent, unqualified or extreme they may be."