Trump’s fury grows as DeSantis’ popularity with Republicans takes off

“President Trump remains committed to and supports Governor Ron DeSantis, who has always supported President Trump’s America First agenda,” Budowich said.

Although the two remain in regular contact, Trump has become increasingly annoyed by DeSantis’ refusal to publicly scrap his own 2024 bid should the former President decide to run for office. Two people close to the situation said DeSantis had privately assured Trump and others that he had no intention of challenging him in the GOP presidential election, but they noted that Trump would not be fully satisfied for the election. until the governor says so publicly.

“I don’t think Trump appreciates the conundrum that DeSantis is having. He wants him to say, ‘I’m not running,’ but DeSantis wouldn’t consider that,” a former Trump aide said. who suggests that DeSantis’ current approach is politically savvy given his interest in securing another governor’s term.

“That’s a very smart point. Until you’re re-elected, don’t start chatting about 2024. If you’re trying to ask people about your vote and you’re basing presidential speculation, that would make it a lot more difficult,” the aide said.

Although DeSantis has previously dismissed the 2024 gossip about him as “nonsense,” he has avoided taking the obvious public vow not to defy Trump that others in the Republican party hope have taken. out.

Earlier this month, he formally filed for re-election as governor of Florida in 2022, and he recently told Fox News host Sean Hannity that’s where his focus is.

“I don’t consider anything but doing my job,” DeSantis said.

A spokesman for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment. Helen Aguirre Ferré, the executive director of the Florida Republican Party who has worked for Trump and DeSantis, told CNN, “I won’t get involved in that. I’ll leave it to someone else.”

What makes DeSantis different?

Trump’s allies say it’s organic enthusiasm for DeSantis – among the GOP’s deep-pocketed donors and grassroots faction – that fuels Trump’s frustration with the governor, especially because it relates to the year 2024. When the Trump name was removed from the presidential polling straws at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in February, DeSantis was leading the group with 43% support. among a MAGA-friendly audience. Months later, at a September 13 press conference where he decried the Biden administration’s pending Covid-19 vaccine mandate for major companies, DeSantis flashed a smug grin when Another state official pointed to a person wearing a “DeSantis 2024” T-shirt in the crowd.

And for months, billionaire Republican donors who have funded Trump have opened their checkbooks to promote DeSantis in his bid for a second term as Florida governor.

Nick Iarossi, a Florida lobbyist and DeSantis organizer, claims Trump supporters are the ones reaching out to support DeSantis, not the other way around. Another person close to DeSantis, who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations, said he has personally witnessed cases where the governor had to tell donors “all of which excited about a presidential bid, “No, I’m not focused on 2024.”

“Everybody’s talking about my governor,” said Shawn Foster, a GOP state pledger who helped organize a DeSantis-initiated county fundraiser in September that members believe to be the largest. in state history – different from a campaign ever organized by Trump.

DeSantis has raised $56 million so far this year through a political committee and in a sign of his growing national stature, nearly half of his 2021 funding. He’s from outside of Florida. His commission has spent sparingly — just $2.3 million over the past 12 months — although it has paid to keep up with demand for shabby, DeSantis-themed merchandise for sale on the Internet. his website. DeSantis famously sold “Don’t Fauci my Florida” koozies this summer as the Sunshine State became the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak.

Now for sale: DeSantis-branded golf balls with the tagline “The Governor of Florida has a pair.”

Trump tracks potential opponents

The simmering tension between Trump and DeSantis comes as the former president himself moves closer to another campaign for the White House in 2024. Trump has been keeping a close eye on what Republican presidents are rumored to be saying. Dai talked about their campaign interests and were most interested in those things. – like DeSantis – who commands considerable popularity with his core supporters.

With a vision toward 2024, Trump has worked hard since leaving office to control the Republican Party with the endorsement of rebel GOP candidates, frequent appearances on the campaign trail and demanding loyalty from the Republican Party at the local, state, and federal levels. . A former Trump White House official says the approach Trump has taken to ensure that he remains in charge of the party doesn’t let anyone – not even the elected Republicans show it off. loyalty to him in most situations.

“He wants to be at the top, not just nationally, but in these states,” the former White House official said.

The official noted that DeSantis is not the only GOP governor who has received praise from the former President one day and displeasure the next.

“He was on the border with (Texas Governor) Greg Abbott three or four months ago and then a month later you get that statement when he criticizes Abbott,” the official recalled, referring to a photograph. letter Trump wrote to the Texas Governor in September asking him to assist with a forensic audit of the state’s 2020 election results. (Trump joined Abbott on a tour of the US-Mexico border in late June amid an increase in illegal border crossings under the Biden administration.)

“He changes his tune every day with some of these people, and what you’re seeing with DeSantis – Trump hot, cold – isn’t necessarily unique to him,” the former official said. Trump’s White House said.

If asked, Trump advisers believe the former President will campaign for DeSantis’ re-election. Iarossi said he wasn’t sure what Trump’s involvement would look like in 2022, but added: “Trump’s brand is still great in Florida so I think he’s a great ally to have.”

Some of Trump’s enemies have begun to envy the former President and are using it to advance their own goals. Next week, Palm Beach broadcasters, perhaps including those at Mar-a-Lago, will once again air a Project Lincoln commercial to remind Trump that DeSantis is the guy.” it” new by GOP.

Rick Wilson, one of the former Republicans behind the Lincoln Project, hopes to provoke a very specific response from Trump.

“We want Trump to kill his own children,” Wilson said. “We believe that if we narrow the field and just have Trump in 2024, it’s an easy choice for Americans to say ‘no’.”

DeSantis, who aired campaign ads reading Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” to his newborn son, has directed Trump to his own political gain for years. As a candidate for the US Senate in 2016, DeSantis repeatedly refused to endorse Trump in the GOP presidential election. But after Trump won and his popularity skyrocketed among Republican voters, DeSantis made regular appearances on Fox News, where he was a staunch defender of the President. Trump took notice and tweeted his support for DeSantis in the 2018 gubernatorial primaries over a better-funded favorite base.

Trump often reminds DeSantis of that history, claiming at a 2020 rally that DeSantis was voting at 3% and had “no money” before Trump joined. “He runs, I endorse him, his numbers go through the roof,” Trump told the crowd.

But if Trump is waiting for DeSantis to return support by publicly dropping the 2024 nomination, he shouldn’t hold his breath. With a re-election campaign still ahead and Democrats accusing DeSantis of campaigning for his next office, the governor’s allies say his talk of the future makes no sense. political meaning.

“He didn’t say he would run in 2024,” Iarossi said. “Why would he dismiss something he hasn’t expressed interest in running for?”