Ron DeSantis isn't pulling punches anymore.
The Florida Governor knows what's at stake for his state.
And Ron DeSantis just threw Donald Trump under the bus with this one move.
Trump administration reverses course on drilling ban DeSantis fought for
Donald Trump spent his first term protecting Florida's coastline from offshore oil drilling.
The President signed a memorandum in 2020 extending a drilling moratorium off Florida's coast through 2032 after DeSantis and other Florida Republicans pushed back hard against opening the Eastern Gulf to rigs.
Now Trump's own Interior Department is proposing to tear up that protection.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management unveiled a plan that would allow drilling roughly 100 miles off Florida's Panhandle with lease sales starting as early as 2029.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the move is about "ensuring that America's offshore industry stays strong."¹
But DeSantis isn't buying what Burgum is selling.
The Governor's press secretary reminded everyone that Trump himself put these protections in place and told the Interior Department to back off.
"Our Administration supports the 2020 Presidential Memorandum and urges the Department of Interior to reconsider and to conform to the 2020 Trump Administration policy," Molly Best stated.²
https://twitter.com/FBSaunders/status/1991620687468130494?s=20
Florida Republicans unite against Trump's drilling plan
DeSantis isn't alone in opposing Trump's flip-flop.
Senator Rick Scott, a Trump ally, made his position crystal clear.
"I have been speaking to Secretary Burgum and made my expectations clear that this moratorium must remain in place, and that in any plan, Florida's coasts must remain off the table for oil drilling," Scott posted on X.³
https://twitter.com/SenRickScott/status/1991611004979958252?s=20
Even Byron Donalds, Trump's handpicked candidate for Florida Governor in 2026, signed a letter to the Interior Department demanding they "change course."⁴
That's the same Byron Donalds who earned Trump's "Complete and Total Endorsement" after being one of his most loyal surrogates during the 2024 campaign.
When your own guy is telling you to pound sand, that's a problem.
Attorney General Ashley Moody also opposed the plan, writing that "preserving our state's natural beauty is deeply important to the millions who call the Sunshine State home."⁵
The proposal would put drilling rigs in federal waters covering the entire Florida Panhandle.
That area is home to the Gulf Testing Range, which DeSantis' office called "an irreplaceable national asset used by the Department of War to develop and maintain the readiness of our combat forces."⁶
No other location in the world gives the U.S. military comparable access for military operations training.
Deepwater Horizon memories still haunt Florida coast
Florida voters know exactly what offshore drilling disasters look like.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill was located 120-130 miles from Florida's coast but still sent oil and tar balls washing up on the state's beaches.
Tourism collapsed as visitors stayed away from what they feared were contaminated beaches.
One study found Northwest Florida lost $1.3 billion in visitor spending in just the first year after the disaster.⁷
Total economic losses across the region reached $2.04 billion in industry output and wiped out 20,486 jobs.⁸
The fishing industry got hammered even worse.
Federal waters in the Gulf remained closed to fishing for nearly a year as fears about contaminated seafood drove consumers away from Gulf catches.
Some locations saw 20% of fish with lesions and sores years after the spill ended.⁹
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1991648106254069903?s=20
Florida voters made their position on offshore drilling abundantly clear in 2018.
They amended the state constitution to ban oil and gas drilling in state waters with nearly 69% support.¹⁰
That's not a squeaker — that's a mandate.
Trump won Florida by 13 points in 2024 because voters trusted him to protect their interests.
Now his administration wants to roll the dice on another potential environmental catastrophe that could devastate Florida's tourism industry and military readiness.
DeSantis is reminding Trump that Florida Republicans didn't sign up for this bait-and-switch.
The Governor knows his state's economy depends on pristine beaches that draw millions of tourists every year, not oil rigs dotting the horizon.
When your own party is telling you to back down, smart leaders listen.
Trump needs to remember why he protected Florida's coast in the first place and tell Burgum to scrap this reckless plan.
¹ Jim Rosica, "Oil rigs off Florida? Trump says yes, DeSantis says no," USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, November 20, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Staff Report, "Trump Administration's Gulf drilling plan draws bipartisan rebuke in Florida," Tampa Bay 28, November 21, 2025.
⁶ Rosica, "Oil rigs off Florida?"
⁷ Lew Serviss, "Economic impacts of cancelled recreational trips to Northwest Florida after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill," ScienceDirect, December 28, 2017.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Wikipedia, "Deepwater Horizon oil spill," November 21, 2025.
¹⁰ Rosica, "Oil rigs off Florida?"
