Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and former president Trump had a private meeting on Sunday in Miami.
According to the people who witnessed the lengthy meeting, DeSantis pledged to support Trump in his efforts to catch up to President Biden in fundraising for their rematch in the 2024 presidential contest.
DeSantis has a strong network of affluent contributors that could prove beneficial to Trump as the general election campaign heats up. DeSantis was soundly re-elected in 2022 and then unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential candidacy in 2024.
After the governor’s poor second-place performance in the Iowa caucuses, considerably behind Trump, in January, DeSantis terminated his White House run. It looks like this meeting is the first time the two have communicated, let alone met in person.
The former president and his supporters attacked DeSantis for almost a year during their contest for the GOP primary, which also featured other candidates.
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Two days before the New Hampshire primary, DeSantis halted his presidential campaign and subsequently endorsed Trump. However, DeSantis hasn’t supported Trump in any campaigns to date.
In February, the governor attacked Trump and his top political advisors on a phone call with supporters.
“I think he’s got people in his inner circle who were part of our orbit years ago that we fired, and I think some of that is they just have an ax to grind,” DeSantis stated.
Chris LaCivita, a key Trump campaign staffer, responded by referring to DeSantis as a “sad little man.”
DeSantis is hated by many in Trump’s inner circle and team, but if it helps him, the former president might be more understanding.
Following DeSantis’ endorsement in January, Trump declared that he would “officially retire” the disparaging moniker “Ron DeSanctimonious,” which he had been using to disparage the governor of Florida for almost a year.
