Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attends a governor's conference in Washington, D.C., and the judge in Eric Adam's case makes a decision about existing charges.

DeSantis attends a governor's conference in Washington with President Trump

Gov. Ron DeSantis spent the day in the nation’s capitol.

He was scheduled to meet with several members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet about issues ranging from conservation and fishing rules, to education and prescription drug prices.

The governor was also at the White House this morning, when Trump addressed a bipartisan group of the country’s governors.

The president’s remarks lasted more than an hour, touching on the Russia-Ukraine war and disaster relief.

“I’m of the opinion I understand FEMA very well. We had a good situation with FEMA, but it was a very expensive thing to do, and I really believe when there’s a natural disaster, hurricane, a tornado or whatever it may be, you’re very capable people. It’s called you fix it,” Trump said.

He also mentioned immigration, artificial intelligence, and his administration’s efforts to cut what he calls waste, fraud, and abuse, which he says will soon include an inspection of the country’s gold reserves.

“But we’re actually going to Fort Knox, because I want to see, do we have the gold? Do we still have whatever it is, tons of gold, I hope we do. Wouldn’t that be disappointing, Fort Knox, you grow up hearing about Fort Knox, you can’t get in, you can’t even see it, nobody sees it, you go there, and the place is dry. Wouldn’t that be terrible?” Trump said. “If any governor would like to go with us, include, do you want to go with us on that one, Ron? It could be good. It could be interesting. Can you imagine if we open it up and there’s no gold? Well, I think there will be.”

The president also had a brief back and forth with the Democratic governor of Maine on the subject of transgender women in sports, threatening legal action, and a potential primary challenge if the state of Maine does not comply with administration policy.

Judge cancels trial for Mayor Eric Adams but leaves corruption charges intact for now

A federal judge on Friday cancelled the corruption trial for Mayor Eric Adams and appointed counsel to advise him on how to handle the Justice Department’s controversial request to drop charges against the Democrat.

Judge Dale E. Ho's written order means he won't decide before mid-March whether to grant the dismissal of the case against the embattled mayor of the nation’s largest city.

At a hearing Wednesday, Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove cited an executive order by President Donald Trump outlining his criminal justice priorities as he defended the request to drop charges.

Adams confirmed at the hearing that he accepted that charges could later be reinstated, a feature of the request to dismiss charges that has led critics to suggest that the mayor would be required to carry out Trump's plans to round up New Yorkers who are in the country illegally if he wanted to remain free from prosecution.

The request is “virtually unreviewable in this courtroom,” Bove argued.

Adams was indicted in September and accused of accepting more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders seeking to buy influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. He faces multiple challengers in June’s Democratic primary. He has pleaded not guilty and has insisted on his innocence.

At Wednesday's hearing, Ho raised the possibility that he could appoint a lawyer to advise him on future steps.

He did so on Friday when he said he'd appointed Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general and acting U.S. attorney general, as amicus curiae to present arguments on the government's request to throw out the charges.

Ho said he wanted all parties and Clement to address the legal standard for dismissing charges, whether a court may consider materials beyond the motion itself and under what circumstances additional procedural steps and further inquiry would be necessary.

He also said he wants to know under what circumstances, dismissal can occur without the ability to reinstate charges or with the ability to reinstate charges. He scheduled briefs to be filed by March 7 and, if necessary, oral arguments to occur on March 14.