Now it can be told.

Before Pam Bondi was selected to be Donald Trump’s Attorney General, she was considering a run for a third term for the equivalent job in the Sunshine State, where she was elected AG in 2010 and re-elected four years later.

Though term limits compelled her to stop at two consecutive terms, she revealed Saturday that she was considering a return to Tallahassee given the then-current AG Ashley Moody was term limited next year.

“I was seriously considering running for Attorney General in Florida again, because I was termed out. I learned that if I sit out, I could run again and I love being in Florida. I love helping people and that was my plan,” Bondi said on “My View with Lara Trump.”

Of course, the plan changed when it became clear former Congressman Matt Gaetz didn’t have the votes to be confirmed by the Senate.

“(Trump) called me early one morning and, you know, without ever sharing our private conversation, he, in his way, talked me into doing this, and I’ve always told him if no one else could answer the switchboards, I would become the best switchboard operator ever if you need me to do this. And he told me he needed me to do this job, so I’m going to try to be the best attorney general I can ever be in the country,” Bondi related.

Of course, former Attorney General Moody was appointed to fill Marco Rubio’s seat in the Senate just weeks after Bondi was nominated to be Attorney General. That led Gov. Ron DeSantis to pick his former chief of staff James Uthmeier for the job.

But if things had gone differently, Uthmeier may have faced an interesting Primary in 2026.

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Preparations are underway for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Saturday, marking a clear departure from Western efforts to isolate Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

Speaking to Russian state media, Sergei Ryabkov said a possible Putin-Trump summit could involve broad talks on global issues, not just the war in Ukraine.

“The question is about starting to move toward normalizing relations between our countries, finding ways to resolve the most acute and potentially very, very dangerous situations, of which there are many, Ukraine among them,” he said.

But he said efforts to organize such a meeting are at an early stage, and that making it happen will require “the most intensive preparatory work.”

Ryabkov added that U.S. and Russian envoys could meet within the next two weeks to pave the way for further talks among senior officials.

Russian and U.S. representatives meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, an extraordinary about-face in U.S. foreign policy under Trump. Senior U.S. officials have suggested Ukraine will have to give up its goals of joining NATO and retaining the 20% of its territory seized by Russia.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press

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A Jacksonville Democrat wants to bring Florida into a consortium of states seeking high-speed rail.

Sen. Tracie Davis’ SB 966 would let the Governor join “a rapid rail transit compact” known as the Southern Rail Commission with Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Florida is eligible to join because it borders Alabama.

Davis’ bill, the Senate version of Rep. Yvonne Hinson’s House measure, notes “North Florida has lacked passenger rail service since September 2005, when track damage from Hurricane Katrina led to the termination of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited route, which ran from New Orleans to Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Orlando.”

The SRC was successful when Joe Biden was President in getting $178 million to restore passenger rail service from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Mobile, Alabama; however, it’s not apparent that President Donald Trump prioritizes that kind of spending amid cuts across government.

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