An Annoyed Trump Reportedly Trashes His Potential 2024 Rival DeSantis: ‘No Personal Charisma’ and ‘Dull Personality’

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Former President Donald Trump is getting increasingly fed up with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), according to a new report by Axios’ Jonathan Swan, trashing the governor as having “no personal charisma” and “a dull personality.”

The report comes after the two Republicans have found their names in headlines together several times recently. Thus far, Trump has been coy about whether he plans to run for president again in 2024, but has been granting interviews and having rallies again in what certainly looks like he’s gearing up for a new campaign.

Trump spoke with One America News earlier this month, and blasted “gutless” politicians who refused to say if they had received the Covid-19 vaccine booster. Among those who have refused to disclose that information: DeSantis, who awkwardly dodged the question when asked by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in December.

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman viewed Trump’s comments as a clear dunk on DeSantis, who was “increasingly under his skin.” Trump’s ire, said Haberman, was that he “isn’t getting the deference from DeSantis that he wants in the pre-2024 leadup.”

DeSantis pushed back on these stories, telling the Ruthless podcast on Friday that this was a media-driven narrative and denying reports of any “animosity” between him and the former president.

However, during that same podcast, DeSantis also said that one of his biggest regrets was not speaking out “louder” against lockdowns early in the pandemic, when Trump was still president. Those comments were interpreted by many political commentators as a subtle swipe at Trump.

The facts are that both Trump and DeSantis are the leading frontrunners for the GOP presidential nomination — polls have consistently shown DeSantis to be the top choice for Republican primary voters when Trump is removed as a choice — and the Florida governor is one of the few prominent Republicans who has not said that he would step aside and not run in 2024 if Trump throws his hat in the ring.

According to Swan’s report, Trump is complaining privately about DeSantis, viewing him as an ingrate who would not have been elected governor in 2018 without Trump’s endorsement. DeSantis loudly touted Trump’s support during his primary battle, even running a commercial in which he was seen helping his young children “build the wall” with toy blocks and teaching them to say “Make America Great Again.”

A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Swan that Trump feels “there’s no way” DeSantis could have won without his support, and identified the source of Trump’s irritation as DeSantis’ refusal to say he won’t run in 2024. “The others have stated pretty clearly they won’t challenge him.”

Another source said that whenever Trump speaks about the 2024 election, “he usually gives DeSantis a pop in the nose in the middle of that type of conversation,” but makes it clear that he doesn’t view DeSantis as a credible threat. “He says DeSantis has no personal charisma and has a dull personality.”

DeSantis did not respond to Swan’s request for comment. Mediaite also reached out to DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw to see if the governor’s office would provide a comment. “No,” she replied, “I’d just refer you to the comments the governor made on the [R]uthless podcast about media narratives.”

UPDATE 9:00 pm ET: Sunday evening Haberman published her own article, co-authored with Jonathan Martin, with the Times‘ sources telling a similar tale of the “friction between the former president and a rising G.O.P. governor unwilling to curb his ambitions”:

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a man Mr. Trump believes he put on the map, has been acting far less like an acolyte and more like a future competitor, Mr. Trump complains. With his stock rising fast in the party, the governor has conspicuously refrained from saying he would stand aside if Mr. Trump runs for the Republican nomination for president in 2024…

“I wonder why the guy won’t say he won’t run against me,” Mr. Trump has said to several associates and advisers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.