- Florida has approved gambling legalization, but the Department of the Interior needs to approve it as well.
- Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber urged them not to approve it.
- The Doral City Council voted to ban gambling within the city limits.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - With the pending legalization of gambling in Florida comes speculation about gambling at the Trump National Doral Miami.
Many have speculated that part of the reason that Ron DeSantis worked so hard to get gambling legalization up and running in Florida is that Donald Trump was interested in offering it at his Florida resorts.
In fact, Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Doral, indicated as much when speaking to the Washington Post.
“Many people consider Trump Doral to be unmatched from a gaming perspective — at 700 acres, properties just don’t exist of that size and quality in South Florida, let alone in the heart of Miami,” said Trump.
The Doral City Council reacted to such speculation by putting a barrier between the Trump Doral and offering gambling.
By a vote of 4-0, the City Council banned gambling within the city limits unless specifically approved by the voters.
This is not the first Miami political move that has seemed targeted at preventing the state-wide gambling legalization from going into effect.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber sent a letter to the US Department of the Interior asking them to reject the compact negotiated between Governor DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe.
The Department of the Interior has 45 days from when the bill was passed to either allow it to go into effect or to reject it as an untoward modification of a tribal compact.
For his part, DeSantis objected to the idea that Trump was involved in his decision-making process regarding gambling legalization.
“Some of these partisan politicians are always trying to elevate themselves with any cheap headline they can get, trying to inject Trump into this,” said DeSantis.
While perspectives on this issue will obviously differ, given the partisan divide in the United States, it does seem clear that some places in Florida will make it a bit harder to offer gambling than previously expected.
Whether these kinds of reactions are only caused by Trump’s radioactivity in liberal enclaves remains to be seen. This could be an isolated circumstance, with the relatively liberal people in charge of certain Miami municipalities reacting specifically to the involvement of Trump, and not to the concept of casinos.
Still, these Florida gambling developments are certainly worth keeping an eye on.