Trump Reportedly Turns on DeSantis, Now Trashes Him Behind His Back Over 2024
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Former President Donald Trump has been privately complaining about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, according to a report from Politico’s Tara Palmeri. At issue? DeSantis has not yet announced that he will bow out of the 2024 race should Trump decide to run.
Palmeri reports:
DONALD TRUMP has been complaining to members and guests at Mar-a-Lago that Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS still hasn’t joined the other 2024 hopefuls in pronouncing that he won’t run for president if Trump runs. One guest suspects that Trump’s gripes are so frequent because he is planting them in hopes that they’ll get back to DeSantis. Trump has told his advisers that DeSantis privately assured him that he won’t run if Trump does, but that’s not enough for the former president — he wants DeSantis to say it in public. Trump has even suggested that DeSantis shouldn’t underestimate his Democratic challenger CHARLIE CRIST, calling him a “killer.” Now, as DeSantis crisscrosses the country to raise money for his 2022 reelection, Trump aides are starting to feel pressure to pick sides. Trump has made it known that he didn’t appreciate that former White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS traveled to Beverly Hills for a DeSantis fundraiser in June (also in attendance: Trump pal and casino magnate STEVE WYNN and former Treasury Secretary STEVE MNUCHIN) and then went on to Orange County, where he introduced DeSantis to other deep-pocketed donors. In a statement to Playbook, a spokesperson for Trump called this reporting “fake news.”
Recent polls indicate that Trump is the current favorite to win the Republican nomination for the 2024 general election. DeSantis is the second choice for many Republicans: polls indicate that, without Trump, DeSantis is the odds on favorite to win the nomination. A number of conservative thought leaders have recently expressed a desire for Trump to either opt not to run, or to run in a manner that is different from the past, or “tone it down” (which seems wholly unlikely.)
