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Mike Waltz talks about removing ‘argumentative’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy from White House

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Friday’s heated confrontation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy saw two Florida-bred presidential appointees charged with removing the foreign team from the White House.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz appeared on Saturday’s “Fox and Friends Weekend,” where he described Zelenskyy’s removal by him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the meeting was over.

“We had a meeting after that exchange after the press was asked to leave, and we pretty much unanimously advised the President that after that insult in the Oval Office, we just do not see how that could move forward, that any further engagement would only go backwards from this moment on, and that’s what we walked over and told President Zelenskyy and his team,” Waltz said.

Ahead of the negotiation’s collapse, Zelenskyy engaged in cross talk with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

“The problem is I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy,” Trump said. “And I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States.”

Trump and Vance said Zelenskyy wasn’t sufficiently grateful for American help.

Based on Friday’s actions, Waltz said he wasn’t sure if Zelenskyy “truly wants to stop the fighting,” which has led Trump “frustrated and angry.”

The drama continued off camera.

As he was being walked out, Waltz said Zelenskyy was still “argumentative,” which led the National Security Adviser to tell him that “time was not on his side.”

The former Congressman from North Florida wasn’t the only man with Sunshine State ties who was unhappy with the Ukrainian leader.

During a CNN appearance Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Zelenskyy needed to apologize to President Trump “for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became.”

“There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic,” the former Senator turned chief diplomat told primetime host Kaitlan Collins.

Rubio also questioned if Zelenskyy wants the fighting to end during Friday’s interview.

“You start to suspect, does he really want an end to this war?  Does he just think that we have to do whatever he says and give him anything he wants without any end game?”

Rubio, who sat impassively during the meeting, had worked to engage Ukraine in an exchange of rare earth mineral rights for American security guarantees.

In football terms, it fell short of the goal line Friday. Ahead of the derailed public negotiation, the Secretary of State said it was just a “tush push” away, days after he accused Zelenskyy of lying about the deal for domestic consumption in Ukraine.

On X Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s position was a mineral deal was a “first step toward security guarantees.”

“But it’s not enough, and we need more than just that. A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine. We’ve been fighting for 3 years, and Ukrainian people need to know that America is on our side,” Zelenskyy claimed.


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Donald Trump breakfasts with Ron, Casey DeSantis

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The most important meal of the day … and the 2026 cycle?

The First Couple spent part of Saturday with the potential kingmaker in next year’s race to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a published report.

The Governor and First Lady Casey DeSantis breakfasted with President Donald Trump, according to Meridith McGraw of the Wall Street Journal.

Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds in the race, even as the First Lady continues to tease a potential run to fill her husband’s current role.

“To quote the late Yogi Berra,” the First Lady said Friday when asked if she was running, “if you see a fork in the road, take it.”

The Governor amplified the memorably quotable former New York Yankee in his own quippy comments at Florida International University.

“”You guys can read into that what you will,” he said. “I think she’s leaving that to the imagination and to start talking about good old Yogi Berra, because you know he had a lot of very perceptive comments.”

Baseball quotes aside, Donalds told Fox News host Bill Hemmer that he expects competition despite Trump’s early endorsement.

“I do. I mean, look, I would love for things to be easy. But nothing’s ever easy, especially in politics,” Donalds said Friday.

Donalds has also said he wants to “pick DeSantis’ brain,” and has positioned himself as a staunch defender of the Governor, including after the then-candidate expressed worry that Democrat Andrew Gillum would “monkey this up” if elected in 2018.

DeSantis has said Donalds hasn’t contributed to victories “over the left” in the state, but in recent days the rhetoric has been dialed down.


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Corey Simon wants Floridians to know if they’re eating foreign, farmed fish

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Truth in advertising could come to seafood this summer.

Fishmongers will have to fully disclose whether what they’re serving up is wild caught or farmed, and whether it’s American or foreign if a new Senate bill from Corey Simon becomes law.

Simon, a Republican from Tallahassee, is introducing legislation (SB 428) that would codify the Florida Wild Fish and Seafood Certification Program starting in July.

Should this bill become law, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services would set up a “quality certification” program for fish and shrimp. It would address harvest and packaging, and would require Florida wild fish to be harvested in-state and not farmed, and would require disposal of non-compliant product.

Vendors would have to apply for permits to participate in this program, allowing for state oversight.

The law also requires people selling foreign or farmed fish to clearly let buyers know, with a sign 8.5 inches wide by 11 inches tall and at least three feet off the floor, The sign would be by the display of fish, with English letters at least an inch high.

Restaurants would have to clearly denote the origin of the fish they are selling on menus with typeface as prominent as the product itself. They also would have to post a sign similar to those posted in fish markets and groceries selling uncooked product.


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Tom Leek bill targets ‘academic boycott’ of Israel

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What’s good for the private sector is also good for non-profits.

An Ormond Beach Republican wants to expand a state ban against companies discriminating against Israel to colleges and universities.

Sen. Tom Leek’s SB 1678 suggests anti-Israeli actions by schools and non governmental agencies amount to an “academic boycott,” and meriting the cessation of state contracts and grants with those entities on the wrong side of the ideological conflict.

These entities would have 90 days to correct their non-compliance and be removed from what would be called the Scrutinized Companies or Other Entities that Boycott Israel List under this proposal. Otherwise, the state would divest itself of contracts with them.

The current list of companies, managed by the State Board of Administration, was first put forth in 2016 after Gov. Rick Scott signed it into law. It currently includes a number of companies, including various subsidiaries of Unilever.

The SBA compiles the list quarterly, using publicly available data and contacting the companies as part of its fact finding.

The 2016 bill passed with unanimous support in the Senate and two no votes in the House.


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