President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on his predecessor, Joe Biden, during a visit to a newly built migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades on July 1 — a location nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Standing beside chain-link cages with beds designated for detained migrants, Trump claimed Biden once wanted him imprisoned in such a facility.
“Biden wanted me in here, OK? He wanted me,” Trump said, gesturing toward the holding cells. “Didn’t work out that way — but he wanted me in here, that son of a b—-.”
Trump has long maintained that the federal indictments brought against him in 2023 — one for alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another over classified documents — were orchestrated by Biden and politically motivated. Both cases were dropped after Trump won re-election in 2024.
Trump Tours Controversial Florida Detention Center
The president toured the $450 million-a-year detention complex alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Located near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, about 37 miles from Miami, the facility is surrounded by the Everglades’ natural dangers — including alligators, crocodiles, and pythons.
The White House has used the harsh setting to symbolize Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration.
“This is not a nice business,” Trump said before heading to the site. “Snakes are fast, but alligators — we’re going to teach [detainees] how to run from them.” Waving his hand in a zigzag motion, he added, “Don’t run in a straight line. Run like this.”
Biden’s Health and Exit From Politics
Trump’s remarks come nearly a year after Biden, following a widely criticized debate performance, announced he would not seek re-election. In May 2025, Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and has largely remained out of the public eye since stepping down from politics.
The clash between the two leaders — one retired and ailing, the other doubling down on incendiary rhetoric — marks yet another chapter in the tumultuous political landscape heading into Trump’s second term.
