Florida
Trump Says He’ll Vote In Favor Of Florida’s Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure
Topline
Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he would vote for a Florida ballot measure seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, a move that puts the Republican presidential candidate at odds with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state GOP leaders.
Key Facts
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote he would vote “YES” on the ballot measure known as Amendment 3 in November, adding it was time “to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use.”
Trump wrote if he wins in November, his administration will “focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana.”
The former president had signaled support for the measure last month, but this is the first time he explicitly said he will vote for legalization.
In a post late last month, Trump said recreational marijuana will be legalized by voters in Florida “whether people like it or not” and described arrests for possession of marijuana as “waste [of] Taxpayer Dollars.”
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Key Background
Trump’s support for the legislation is a stark contrast from the position taken by DeSantis and other GOP leaders in the state. In April, DeSantis attacked Amendment 3, saying it “does not just decriminalize marijuana. It’s a license to have it wherever you want.” The Florida governor also warned the state will “start to smell like marijuana in our cities and towns”, if the measure passes. Billionaire Ken Griffin—a key GOP donor and DeSantis supporter—has poured $12 million into opposing the measure, arguing it only serves “special interests” and will lead to an “increase in crime.” Trump’s first comments in favor of Amendment 3 last month faced strong pushback from some Florida Republicans. David Biddle, the GOP Chair for the state’s Gilchrist County, wrote: “Don’t listen to Trump. Vote NO on Amendment 3.”
Tangent
In his original post on the matter last month, Trump said the state legislature should create laws to prohibit marijuana use in public places: “so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities.” This was likely an effort to address one of the key talking points raised by DeSantis and other opponents of the measure. The Florida governor, however, has argued that if Amendment 3 passes, the state’s constitution will only allow “regulating the use of *medical* marijuana in public, but not *recreational* marijuana.”
Big Number
60%. That is the percentage of votes the ballot measure needs to secure for its passage.
Further Reading
As DeSantis fears ‘putrid’ pot smell, Trump says Amendment 3 could be ‘very good’ (Orlando Sentinel)
Florida
4-star DE Hilson latest to decommit from FSU
Javion Hilson, ESPN’s No. 71 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle, has decommitted from Florida State with plans to make a final commitment closer to the Dec. 4 early signing period, the four-star defensive end announced via social media Sunday afternoon.
Hilson had been committed to the Seminoles since Jan. 12 and was the second-ranked member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class, per ESPN’s rankings. His decommitment comes amid Florida State’s 0-2 start to the 2024 season and marks the second departure from the program’s incoming class this weekend after four-star defensive tackle Myron Charles (No. 166 in the ESPN 300) flipped to Texas on Saturday.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to decommit from Florida State and reopen my recruitment,” Hilson said in his announcement. “I will be making my final decision in December. Thank you to everyone at FSU for their support.”
Hilson is a star pass rusher at Florida’s Cocoa High School, where he logged 97 total tackles and 14 sacks while leading the program to a second consecutive Class 2S title as a junior last fall. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound defender is ESPN’s No. 11 defensive end and the 11th-ranked prospect from the state of Florida in the 2025 class.
Hilson took official visits to Florida, Texas and UCF this spring before a pair of trips to Florida State from June 21 to July 27.
Florida State’s 2025 class came in at No. 18 in ESPN’s latest rankings for the cycle before Hilson and Charles pulled their pledges. The Seminoles did gain a recruiting boost in the 2026 class earlier this week when former Syracuse safety commit Izayia Williams, ESPN’s No. 39 prospect in 2026, announced his pledge to Florida State following a Labor Day visit with the program.
The Seminoles were off Saturday and will host Memphis at Doak Campbell Stadium in Week 3.
Florida
Dolphins star Tyreek Hill detained by police entering stadium but will play in Week 1
Tyreek Hill was detained by police entering Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday morning ahead of the Miami Dolphins’ Week 1 game.
The NFL’s leading wide receiver from last season has since been released and will be available for the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team confirmed in a statement. The Dolphins said that several teammates saw the incident and stopped to support Hill.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared a video of the incident, with Hill being handcuffed on the ground while surrounded by multiple officers.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported that Hill was cited for reckless driving. He then got into a verbal altercation with the police, according to Darlington, and the officer then chose to handcuff Hill.
Hill is available to play in the team’s season opener, which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET in Miami. The 30-year-old wide receiver is entering his third season with the Dolphins after signing a restructured contract with $65 million guaranteed last month.
Florida
Florida Republican, Democrat team up to tackle student loan debt as Biden-Harris forgiveness bids derail
A seemingly unlikely duo is pushing for Congress to do something about ballooning college debt that’s plaguing millions of Americans.
Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced a bill to cap federal student loan interest at 3% this week, and Luna told Fox News Digital that she’s already gearing up to lobby Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for a House-wide vote.
“I actually fully anticipate having that conversation in person when we return next week,” Luna said.
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She wants Johnson to fast-track the bill under a procedure known as “suspension of the rules,” which allows legislation to bypass the normal committee process in exchange for raising the threshold for passage from a simple majority to two-thirds – which both Luna and Moskowitz anticipated the bill would see.
“I think this would pass if you put this to the floor. In fact, if you bypass committee, I think this would probably get two-thirds. I mean, I think it would pass overwhelmingly,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital.
Luna similarly said, “I think it would be really hard for any member to vote against it.”
She also suggested creating a discharge petition for the bill – a measure that would force a piece of legislation up for a vote if the petition got a majority of House lawmakers’ signatures.
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Discharge petitions rarely, if ever, succeed in forcing a House-wide vote themselves, but Luna said that just the creation of one could be enough to pressure leadership into action.
“I talk to people that are just like, ‘I am literally paying off loans from 15, 20 years ago, and because the interest rate is so high, we’re not even able to make a dent,” Luna said. “It’s turning Americans into indentured servants.”
It comes after the Biden-Harris administration’s multiple attempts at mass student loan forgiveness keep getting blocked by GOP-led states and even the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. President Biden has managed to implement more narrowly targeted forgiveness measures, however.
And while Luna and Moskowitz’s opinions on Biden’s initiative differ, both said they have heard people on both sides of the aisle express a need for reform to the student debt system.
“Quite frankly, we both, we both were working on this issue in a silo, and then in a conversation one day, we both brought it up,” Moskowitz said of how their partnership on the issue came about.
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“Everybody knows it’s a problem. . . . Let’s start here, where we have some common ground, where people who can’t afford an education can go get a loan, but they won’t be saddled with debt for the rest of their lives.”
Both also dismissed concerns about giving each other’s side a win during the hyper-partisan environment of an election year.
“I can’t be concerned about that, because at the end of the day, if we’re going to make progress for the American family, I’m not interested in this credit nonsense,” Moskowitz said. “If I’m out there criticizing Republicans who wanted to deny Joe Biden a win on something, I can’t then partake in that behavior myself, right?”
Luna said, “Ultimately, we as a country will take a win.”
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“I know that we’re in an election year, and I will say that I wish, and I hope that [Democrats] will look at this legislation not like it’s being drawn from, and passed by, the Republican body, but that, you know, it’s something that would be a net positive,” she said.
At of the end of 2023, roughly 43 million Americans shared the burden of some $1.6 trillion student loan debt in the country, according to federal data.
Nearly 95% of that debt is in federal loans, according to the Education Data Initiative, which also cited the average federal student loan interest rate as 5.99%.
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