Good morning and welcome to Thursday. 

There’s been a change in plans. Gov. Ron DeSantis will be center stage in Milwaukee after all.

The governor is set to speak on the main stage at the Republican National Convention, after news that he had not made the lineup was shared with POLITICO Tuesday by three different sources who knew the schedule. Two of those sources told POLITICO Wednesday that those plans changed, and that DeSantis was back in the mix, though what day and time isn’t public yet. A DeSantis adviser familiar with the matter insisted on Wednesday the governor’s team had been consistently told for months he would have a speaking slot and were never told otherwise, POLITICO’s Gary Fineout reported.

Regardless, one GOP insider who requested anonymity texted Playbook to say the switcheroo was “smart.” “The convention is about nominating [former President Donald] Trump, but, ultimately, it is a convention of the whole Republican Party,” the person, who is attending the convention, said. “There is a long tradition in both parties of having defeated foes or voices from other elements within the party. It speaks to symbolize that the party is in fact unified.”

DeSantis’ remarks are likely to be closely scrutinized by MAGAworld, though the governor has been raising money to help Trump get elected. In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) received a top slot onstage at the RNC in 2016 after unsuccessfully challenging Trump for the Republican nomination — but he got booed because he didn’t endorse his former rival.

DeSantis is also headlining a breakfast for the Republican Party of Florida, and will appear at a town hall for the conservative Moms for Liberty as well as a “Southern States Fest” with other area governors.

The full list of speakers hasn’t yet been released, and there is still plenty of buzz about whether Sen. Marco Rubio will be tapped as Trump’s running mate. The 2020 convention had 85 different speakers, including several top politicians from Florida, but it was scaled down due to to the pandemic.

Other Florida elected officials will have plenty of ways to make headlines, too. State Sen. Joe Gruters, who chairs the credentials committee and who Trump endorsed to be the state’s chief financial officer for 2026, is speaking Monday during an opening session, he tells Playbook.

Reps. Byron Donalds and Kat Cammack, as well as Senate President-Designate Ben Albritton, will each be headlining RPOF breakfasts on different mornings. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson — both thought to be considering a 2026 runs for governor — have evening receptions on different nights early in the week.

All of this means that, as much as the focus will be on the 2024 nomination, it’ll also be about peering into the future to envision what Florida’s leadership lineup might look like in a couple of years.

COMING UP: Playbook will be on the ground at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Send tips to [email protected] about Florida-focused get togethers, speaking slots and anything else of interest to our readers.  

... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...

TROUBLING SIGNS — “Half the households in Florida struggle to make financial ends meet, major report shows,” by WLRN’s Julia Cooper. “The [Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed] 2024 report shows that 46 percent of Florida households — more than 4 million households — are straining to pay for necessities like food, rent and transportation. That number includes the 1.1 million households in poverty and 2.9 million households that meet the ALICE criteria.”

SEASONAL RISE — “More ER patients in Florida test positive for COVID. The surge is different this time,” by the Miami Herald’s Michelle Marchante. “The surge in cases is not like in previous years when hospitals were overwhelmed with patients. It’s a more modest wave, possibly boosted by people gathering during the summer, traveling and staying indoors to avoid the sweltering heat.”

BUT … “The antiviral Paxlovid is hard to find,” reports Cindy Krischer Goodman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

BACK ON THE AGENDA — “Duke is again considering Levy County site for new nuclear plant,” reports POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. "Duke Energy Florida is again considering putting a nuclear power plant on 5,000 acres it owns in Levy County, regulatory documents reviewed by POLITICO reveal, as state and federal officials encourage the expansion of nuclear energy. ... The proposal could revive a major fight from over a decade ago, where a plan to build a different type of nuclear plant met resistance from environmentalists and consumer advocates."

— “As pollution plagues Florida lakes, state spends millions to manage invasive plants,” reports Molly Duerig of Central Florida Public Media.

PRO-ISRAEL — “'Suffer the consequences': Pizzo vows to pull support from cities who oppose Israel,” reports The Floridian’s Liv Caputo. “During a meeting to continue smothering antisemitism in Florida, centrist Democratic Senator Jason Pizzo said city commissioners opposing support for Israel would ‘suffer the consequences,’ as they would lose his state-level support for what he views as being on the wrong side of history. In other words, commissioners from cities he represents should side with Israel. If not, funding for local projects and bill ideas for their city may not reach the state legislature, because Pizzo will not speak for them.”

PENINSULA AND BEYOND

PUBLIC RECORDS — “Miami mayor’s net worth increased to $4.45M last year as he grew real estate portfolio,” reports Tess Riski from the Miami Herald. “After a whirlwind year that included a short-lived presidential campaign and heightened scrutiny of his financial dealings, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s net worth increased by $1 million in 2023, signifying a slowing down in financial gains after two consecutive years when his net worth more than doubled, according to a financial disclosure form released this month.”

...HURRICANE HOLE...

COULD BE DEBBIE — “National Hurricane Center watching spot off Florida's east coast after Beryl's devastation,” reports Kimberly Miller of the Palm Beach Post. “The tropics were expected to be quiet this week under a thick plume of Saharan dust, but the National Hurricane Center is watching an area of low pressure off the southeastern U.S. coast for potential development. The center is giving the area low chances of becoming anything more than a loose circle of showers and thunderstorms — just 10 percent — and said environmental conditions appear ‘only marginally’ favorable for a potential tropical depression or storm. If it became a tropical storm, it would be named Debby.”

AIR CHANGES — “Saharan dust arrives in Florida, with potential air quality impacts and more,” by Leslie Hudson of Storm Center. “The Saharan dust travels more than 5,000 miles from Africa every year, but this year, the National Weather Service says it is nearly 60 percent to 70 percent dustier than normal and that is making it rough for those with allergies.”

CAMPAIGN MODE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Fight for Florida PAC, the committee supporting Republican Mike Haridopolos for Florida’s 8th congressional district, is launching a six-figure TV ad buy today that will run in Orlando and Palm Beach media markets. “Mike Haridopolos will fight against reckless spending, shut down illegal immigration, and keep Florida free,” the ad says before noting he’s got Trump’s backing. The group is also sending out mailers touting Trump’s endorsement on Truth Social alongside a picture of the candidate and his family.

DESANTIS CHIPPING IN — Gov. Ron DeSantis has several fundraisers planned to help Trump’s reelection bid, reports NBC News’ Matt Dixon. “A handful of events are being planned, the first of which was a July 5 event at the Jackson Hole, Wyo., home of retired Florida doctor Peter Lamelas and his wife, Stephanie. The couple has given more than $600,000 so far this election cycle, half of which has gone to the Republican National Committee. Peter gave another $100,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, Inc., a joint fundraising committee that has helped pay Trump's legal bills. DeSantis is also planning a September fundraiser in Texas to help, but there are not yet details available for the event. The money DeSantis raises for Trump will go to pro-Trump super PAC Right for America.”

STANDING DOWN — “Florida Republicans are staying pretty quiet on Biden. Is it a strategy?” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Kirby Wilson. “Biden finds himself in the middle of arguably the biggest political crisis of his presidency. Elected members of his own party are calling for him to end his run for reelection. But state Republicans — including his opponent, former President Donald Trump — aren’t going that far.”

WHAT TO WATCH — Medical marijuana company Trulieve has contributed another $1 million toward a ballot initiative that wants voters to legalize pot for adult use in November, recent state records show.

Trulieve has now contributed just over $55 million toward the Amendment 4 campaign, which is led by the Smart & Safe Florida Committee. Most of that money went toward efforts to collect the more than 891,000 state-verified voter signatures required under law well ahead of the state’s Feb. 1 deadline. The campaign has raised just over $61 million since it began in 2022, and it has spent $48.7 million as of last week, according to data from the Florida Division of Elections.

— Arek Sarkissian

OUTSIDE IN — “The entire country is getting involved in the campaign in Florida over abortion,” by Max Greenwood of the Miami Herald. “Some of its biggest donors include Open Society Fund, a group founded by Democratic mega-donor George Soros, and Think Big America, a Chicago-based abortion rights nonprofit started last year by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, both of which have given $500,000 to the Yes on 4 campaign. Its single largest donor so far is Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit that pumped $5 million into the Yes on 4 campaign last month.”

— “In uphill fight to defeat abortion, marijuana measures, DeSantis throws around bold claims,” reports John Kennedy of USA Today Network — Florida.

— “Democratic Congressman Moskowitz endorses, then un-endorses, Republican School Board member Alston,” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man.

TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP

DEEP DIVE — “Trump is planning for a landslide win,” by Tim Alberta of The Atlantic. “[Susie] Wiles and [Chris] LaCivita are two of America’s most feared political operatives. She is the person most responsible for Florida—not long ago the nation’s premier electoral prize — falling off the battleground map, having spearheaded campaigns that so dramatically improved the Republican Party’s performance among nonwhite voters that Democrats are now surrendering the state ... Together, as the architects of Trump’s campaign, they represent a threat unlike anything Democrats encountered during the 2016 or 2020 elections.”

VEEPSTAKES — “Trump on his vice presidential contenders: He likes Vance’s beard but sees Rubio as ‘risky,’” reports POLITICO’s Mia McCarty. “After rallying with Rubio in Miami Tuesday night ... Trump discussed the Florida senator’s residency problem in Wednesday’s interview. Trump and Rubio would need to forgo Florida’s 30 electors if they ran on the same ticket, meaning that Rubio may have to move states and give up his Senate seat to run with the former president. Trump said that wouldn’t prevent Rubio from being picked as vice president but that it ‘does make it more complicated.’”

… POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy then ran into Rubio on Capitol Hill and asked the senator about Trump’s radio interview. He declined to comment, but did so with a smile.

MULTIMEDIA — “How Mar-a-Lago became the center of gravity for the hard right,” by Karen Yourish, Charlie Smart and David A. Fahrenthold of The New York Times. “Since Trump left office in 2021, Mar-a-Lago has transformed into a White House in exile and the nerve center for some of the most extreme elements of the party’s MAGA wing. This includes a nearly steady stream of promoters of conspiracy theories that include lies that the 2020 election was stolen and that the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, was a federal setup.”

TRANSITION TIME

MAKING MOVES — Communications and public affairs firm Narrative Strategies is opening an office in West Palm Beach. It’ll be led by Matt Moon, who was deputy executive director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee under Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and spokesperson for his 2014 gubernatorial reelection campaign. Also joining the office is director Kelly O’Keefe, who used to work for Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.).

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

— “There’s an invasive Cuban tree frog in your home. Here’s what to do next,” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Hannah Farrow.

BIRTHDAYS: Former state Reps. Fred Hawkins, Ron Reagan and Cynthia Stafford … Emily Benavides, senior vice president P2 Public Affairs.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this newsletter misidentified a communications firm opening an office in West Palm Beach; it is Narrative Strategies.