Who from Florida could be Beltway bound for Trump part 2?

President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration is almost certain to include a few Floridians, with Gov. Ron DeSantis already promoting his controversial health chief for a Washington job.
DeSantis took to X, formerly Twitter, to tout Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the state’s surgeon general and Health Department secretary, to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Trump.
“Retweet if you’d like to see this man — Dr. Joseph Ladapo — serve as the Secretary of HHS in the new Trump administration,” DeSantis posted, with a photo of Ladapo.
DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, retweeted her husband, adding a glowing “100,” as an endorsement.
Ladapo, a vaccine skeptic, would seem to be vying with a likeminded vaccine resister, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for a top post. Kennedy, who backed Trump for president after abandoning his own presidential bid, is expected to land some public health role, possibly as a “health care czar” in the White House.
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Kennedy, who warns about vaccines, inveighs against pharmaceutical companies and wants to eliminate fluoride form water systems – although it improves oral health – was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday, when DeSantis was talking up Ladapo.
Ladapo drew DeSantis’ attention as a doctor-activist fighting COVID-19 vaccinations and, under the governor, emerged as a regular on hard-right podcasts promoting contrarian views.
He was a signer of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated lifting COVID-19 restrictions to promote herd immunity and was once accused by colleagues at the University of Florida of “reporting bias by cherry picking results; focusing only on evidence that supports his stance.”
Critics say Ladapo’s leadership has contributed to a marked decline in Florida for routine school vaccinations for measles, mumps and chicken pox.
Still, Ladapo is among a handful of Floridians being positioned in some circles for federal posts in a new Trump administration.
The president-elect is officially a Floridian. And Trump’s 13% margin of victory in Florida on Tuesday marked his best showing in a state he has now carried three times and which has clearly trended Republican red.
∎ Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is mentioned as a leading candidate for Secretary of State.
Rubio had been a finalist in Trump’s vice-presidential search, a role that went to JD Vance. But Florida’s senior senator has been active in foreign affairs in the Senate, particularly involving Latin America.
∎ U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, is being talked up for some kind of national security role, possibly as Defense Secretary, with the former Green Beret colonel building an aggressive legislative record on China during his time in Congress.
Waltz, who represents Volusia and Flagler counties, was just elected to his fourth term. First elected in 2018, Waltz succeeded DeSantis in Congress.
∎ Susie Wiles, a co-campaign manager for Trump, is perhaps closer to the incoming president than almost anyone and is viewed as a possible White House chief-of-staff.
Wiles played a similar role more than 30 years ago for former Mayor John Delaney of Jacksonville, the city where she built her political career.
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The low-key, organized and disciplined Wiles ran gubernatorial campaigns for Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and DeSantis, and first connected with Trump in 2016, directing his campaign in Florida.
She had a famous falling out with DeSantis, who pushed her out of Trump world in 2019 and cost her a lucrative job with Florida’s powerhouse lobbying firm, Ballard Partners. The governor was purportedly upset by the perception she was behind some negative news leaks.
Given their history, a Wiles in the White House could prove awkward for DeSantis.
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But the governor’s own relationship with Trump has swung from protégé to target, with the vicious attacks he weathered during their fight for the Republican presidential nomination still stinging.
∎ Brian Hughes, a Trump senior advisor, is a longtime Florida political operative poised for some kind of post under the new president. He was brought onto the campaign to lead Trump’s Florida’s effort but evolved into a broader role.
Hughes worked for Scott when he was governor and later spent eight years with former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a Florida Republican Party chair before that. Under Curry, Hughes rose to become the city’s chief administrative officer.
∎ Carlos Trujillo, a former Florida state House member, served under Trump as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States, becoming the president’s point-man on Latin America. He’s been senior adviser for the campaign on Latino issues.
Trump on Tuesday became the first Republican to carry Hispanic-rich Miami-Dade County since George H.W. Bush in 1988. And the former Democratic stronghold’s switch to Trump was part of a nationwide surge in Hispanic votes that helped vault the president-elect to the White House.
Trujillo is expected to continue playing a big role in counseling Trump on how to build on this new-found Hispanic support. And, maybe, much more.
∎ Erika Donalds, a former Collier County School Board member, conservative education entrepreneur and wife of Trump surrogate, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, could end up in a top education post in the new administration, if anything like the U.S. Education Department is still around.
Donalds, a Moms for Liberty advisor, does the same for the Heritage Foundation whose Project 2025 policy blueprint for the next administration, recommends dismantling the Department of Education. Trump has voiced support for that goal, even though he distances himself from Project 2025.
Donalds, who managed charter schools and runs an education business assisting voucher-funded private schools, could be central to any Trump re-do of education.
John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on X at @JKennedyReport.