Trump admin urged DeSantis to enact mask mandates, letter shows

The Trump White House issued a warning to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2021 urging him to enact mask mandates in the Sunshine State, a letter shows.

The directive, dated Jan. 10, 2021, states that “aggressive mitigation must be used” to combat the virus.

It advised “uniform implementation of effective face masking” and “strict physical distancing.”

DeSantis, 44, released the letter Thursday, as he accused former President Donald Trump, 77, of being a “power-hungry” bureaucrat.

“Even in January of 2021, the Trump-Fauci White House Coronavirus Task Force attacked Florida for being open and demanded Florida impose a mask mandate and enact other lockdown policies,” he said during a “Mandate Freedom” press conference in Florida.

“We rejected those demands, stood up to power-hungry health bureaucrats, and kept our state free.”

DeSantis had re-opened Florida months earlier after briefly imposing some suppression measures to curb the spread — and was steadfast about resisting pressure to revisit mandates or lockdowns.

The Florida governor had also championed a ban on local fines for individuals who opted not to don a mask.

The release of the 2021 letter comes amid a war of words with his main 2024 Republican rival on COVID-19 and fears of an uptick in cases.

Trump swiped at DeSantis on COVID-19 during a Wednesday interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt when pressed about criticisms over not firing ex-COVID czar Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“[DeSantis] has a selective memory. He shut down,” Trump said.

“Henry McMaster didn’t shut down South Carolina. Krisi Noem didn’t shut down South Dakota,” he continued.

“He shut down Florida. It was tight as a drum. He had vax lines. He was vaxxing everything. Now, he talks about the vaccinations this and that.”

The ex-xommander-in-chief also defended his decision not to fire Fauci, which has been a frequent criticism from DeSantis.

“First of all, you’re not allowed. He’s civil service, and you’re not allowed to fire him,” Trump insisted.

“But forget that, because I don’t necessarily go by everything. Dr. Fauci would tell me things, and I wouldn’t do them, in many cases.”

DeSantis, however, was unconvinced by that defense.

“It’s important to point out for a long time that was not his excuse,” the presidential hopeful argued on the Rubin Report Wednesday.

“His excuse had been that if you fired Fauci, both the Democrats and the media would have pitched a fit, which, of course, is 100% true.

“Clearly, he could have been fired from the White House Task Force. There was no obligation to run him out at press conference after press conference, have him doing media interviews.” 

DeSantis’ crusade against COVID-19 mandates after the first couple of months of the pandemic helped catapult him into GOP stardom.

It also earned him much fanfare at home.

In 2018, DeSantis narrowly squeaked by Democratic foe Andrew Gillum 49.6% to 49.2%. But in 2022, he was handily reelection over Democrat rival Gov. Charlie Crist 59.4% to 40%.

Florida had long been regarded as a purple state, but it shifted to red under DeSantis’ leadership.

With hospitalizations on a near-steady rise since July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DeSantis is trying to tap back into that political gold mine.

He vowed Thursday that Florida will remain a “free state” and a “bulwark” against stringent virus suppression measures. On Wednesday, he promised to bring about a COVID-19 reckoning.

“I will usher in a reckoning for those who devised the failed and destructive biomedical policies that caused damage throughout our country, because until there is accountability they will try to do it again,” the Florida governor pledged Wednesday.

The Post contacted a Trump campaign spokesperson for comment.

DeSantis is currently running in second place in the 2024 Republican race, trailing Trump by 38.7 percentage points in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.

Late last month, he briefly put his campaign activities on hold to respond to Hurricane Idalia.