Last Call for 1.8.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of expansionism — or MAGAfest Destiny, as some call it — has a major fan in the Sunshine State.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said he would support the U.S. in taking control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, going so far as to call the concept “exciting.”

“Well, it would be pretty exciting. If you think about it, we’ve got a President that’s going to focus on our national security,” Scott said during an appearance on Fox Business.

“It would be a great strategic asset, Greenland would be, for our defense. No. 2: The Panama Canal, if they’re not treating us fairly, I mean, that’s not fair. We built it; we paid for it. And so they need to treat us fairly. I’m excited that he cares about American commerce. I’m excited that he cares about national security.”

While Scott didn’t understand what Trump meant when he said he could use the U.S. military to effect territorial gains, he nonetheless expressed enthusiasm for the endgame.

“It would be exciting if Greenland was part of the United States. That would be great for our national security,” Scott added. “Panama Canal cannot be treating America worse than other countries. So we’ll see what he ends up doing. … I appreciate that Trump is out there trying to make America great again.”

How the U.S. would take over the world’s largest island is unclear — Greenlanders aren’t fans of the idea, nor are the Danish. 

Some trivia of questionable value: Greenland is about 25% larger than Alaska. If it were to change hands, the U.S.’s overall landmass would jump by more than 836,000 square miles, leapfrogging Canada to become the second-largest country in the world.

Evening Reads

—“The rise and fall of ‘fact-checking’” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin

—”Meta wants users to fact-check each other. Here’s how that worked for X.” via Trisha Thadani and Will Oremus of The Washington Post

—”The 36 must-see lines from Donald Trump’s WILD press conference” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—“A ‘business-friendly’ lawyer’s rise from lobbyist to Attorney General pick” via Eric Lipton and Kate Kelly of The New York Times

—“Next Stop: 2032” via Steve Schale of Steve’s Substack

—“‘Make Greenland Great Again’? No thank you, Greenlanders say.” via Jeffrey Gettleman and Maya Tekeli of The New York Times

—“Canadian leaders say Trump’s talk about Canada becoming the 51st state isn’t funny anymore” via Rob Gillies of The Associated Press

—”Rick Scott backs Trump moves on Greenland, Panama Canal” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics

—”’Are we collectively nuts?’: ‘Veep’ creator Armando Iannucci on politics in the age of Trump” via Stephen Rodrick of Rolling Stone

—”Yes, even most unexpected landscapes in the U.S. can and will burn” via Kylie Mohr of Vox

—”The anti-social century” via Derek Thompson of The Atlantic

—”Florida lawmakers keep flipping the scrub-jay the bird” via Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel

Quote of the Day

“When disaster strikes, we must come together to help our fellow Americans in any way we can.”

— Gov. Ron DeSantis, offering Florida’s help in the California wildfire response.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

NASA’s HQ is probably staying put, but if Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to get it to move to Florida works out, we’ll owe him a Gin Rocket.

In the meantime, DeSantis gets a Friendly Neighbor (well, kind of neighbor) for putting politics aside and offering to send help to fire-ravaged California.

If you didn’t make it to CES, you can still get in on the fun by sipping on a Next Gen cocktail while reading up on the latest developments in tech.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

FSU, Miami both trying to find footing on basketball court

Florida State and Miami renew their rivalry on the basketball court tonight in South Florida (7 p.m. ET, ACC Network).

The Seminoles (10-4, 1-2 ACC) are coming off a 90-74 home win over Syracuse on Saturday. Daquan Davis led four Noles in double figures with 18. The victory was the 193rd conference win for head coach Leonard Hamilton, moving him past Maryland’s Gary Williams for fourth most in ACC history. Only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and a pair of former North Carolina coaches, Dean Smith and Roy Williams, have won more ACC games than Hamilton.

As usual, defense has led the way for Hamilton’s team. FSU leads the ACC in both blocked shots and steals.

Miami (4-10, 0-3 ACC) is in a state of transition. Longtime head coach Jim Larranaga abruptly retired the day after Christmas, and associate head coach Bill Courtney was elevated to interim head coach. The Hurricanes struggled before Larranaga’s retirement and have lost both games since, falling at ACC foes Boston College and Virginia Tech.

Miami also plays without point guard Nijel Pack, who has a knee injury. There has not been a timetable for Pack’s return. Before the injury, Pack led the Canes in scoring (13.9 points per game) and assists (39). In his place, freshman Divine Ogochukwu started the last four games.

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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.