DAVID MARCUS: Trump hits the links with a chance to bring in an ace

A rather interesting foursome teed off for a round of golf in Florida this weekend: President Donald Trump was joined by college football coaching legends Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, and perhaps more importantly, a former rival by the name of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

It would go too far to say that Trump and DeSantis have had bad blood, but there has been a rift since the Florida governor’s 2023 primary challenge to Trump, which petered out in New Hampshire before primary votes had even been cast.

To see Trump and DeSantis spending a few hours engaged in what Mark Twain once called a ‘good walk spoiled’ leads to an interesting question: After the ace Florida governor leaves office next year, could he be a hole in one for the Trump administration?

DeSantis is the kind of guy who Trump could put in charge of basically anything in the federal government and fully expect not just his signature competence, but his calm and no-nonsense manner.

In recent weeks, calm is something the administration has been thirsting for.

After DeSantis dropped out in early 2024, the schism in the conservative commentariat more or less was cleaved, notwithstanding some fairly bitter vitriol that had consumed the previous year, and the governor can still be an important buttress to GOP unity.

There has been a frustration, especially from former DeSantis supporters, of late, that the White House has been too tolerant of extreme views from figures in its orbit. The best answer to that is not to cancel supposed cancers but to bolster the administration’s credibility.

I don’t know what DeSantis’s middle name is, but I would not be surprised to find that it is ‘crediblity.’ With the possible exception of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, no leader in America, maybe the world, handled COVID better.

The knock on DeSantis is that, credible though he may be, he’s not particularly compelling. He does not, in the parlance of entertainment, chew up the scenery. I remember spending much of the spring of 2023 thinking, as he geared up for the presidential run, ‘Less talking, more throwing the baseball around.’

But, to be frank, the Trump administration has a sufficient current supply of colorful characters.It needs more competence, more Lee Zeldins and Scott Bessents.

In a column for the Washington Examiner this week, Byron York asked whether it is time for Trump to shake up his cabinet. Wherever one stands on that interesting political question, you do have to ask, who could the Senate confirm as a new member?

Let’s say Attorney General Pam Bondi, or Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who have been lightning rods for criticism, leave their positions. I’m not advocating for that, but should it happen, DeSantis is one of a few prominent Republicans who could sail through Senate confirmation.

The subtext to all of this, including the round of golf that I’m just going to go ahead and assume Trump won, is the 2028 presidential election, in which DeSantis is one of only a handful of figures who rate among the public.

The polls, early though they are, show Vice President JD VanceJD Vance with a big lead, especially given that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has all but endorsed him. But for now, DeSantis is the most viable GOP option who is not already in the administration or related to Trump.

While politically this may be a reason for the Florida governor to eschew an administration position, to remain the Republican who isn’t seen in the Oval Office day after day fawning over Trump, a national position could be great for him, and for the party.

And honestly, where is DeSantis supposed to go after leaving office, if not Washington?

Whether the 19th hole of this golf outing with Trump and football royalty turns out to be a position in the administration or not, Republicans should rejoice to see these two conservative leaders hanging out.

Unity must be the watchword for Republicans both in this year’s midterms and in the presidential race of 2028. In both cases, DeSantis can be a voice for common sense, competence and American values.

America needs all the good leadership it can get in Washington, and DeSantis is the poster child for it. Trump should seriously consider giving him a prominent national platform.