Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former and potentially future President Donald Trump met in Miami on Sunday morning, as it looks like governor has agreed to campaign for the presumptive Republican nominee. Once Trump's primary rival, DeSantis dropped out in January and endorsed Trump, right after the Iowa Republican Caucus and before the New Hampshire Republican Primary.
As The New York Post reported:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis agreed to campaign on behalf of Donald Trump after the former rivals met Sunday morning as the ex-president looks to retake the White House, sources told The Post.
The two prominent Republicans met in Miami in an attempt to patch up a strained relationship, according to sources.
Insiders also told The Post that DeSantis is expected to raise money for the presumptive GOP nominee, on top of campaigning for him, after his own Oval Office ambitions came up short.
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DeSantis has previously said he was not interested in serving as vice president to Trump.
The meeting between the pair on Sunday was first reported by the Washington Post.
The men spoke for several hours and were friendly after a mutual friend of theirs, Florida real estate investor and developer Steve Witkoff, set up the meeting, the newspaper reported.
The pair hadn’t spoken since the end of primary season, according to the Washington Post.
Beyond DeSantis providing assistance through campaigning and fundraising for Trump, there's also now chatter as to if he could be selected as Trump's running mate. DeSantis had previously said he was uninterested in the job, and there's other factors such as if Trump would prefer to pick a woman or a black running mate. Trump and DeSantis also now both hail from Florida, and residency could be tricky when it comes to abiding by Article II of the Constitution.
DeSantis could also be a presidential contender for 2028. As Ward Clark at our sister site of RedState addressed, "given that a reelected President Trump would be restricted to one term, whoever gains the VP slot will be in the catbird seat in the 2028 election... Ron DeSantis is a likely 2028 presidential candidate in any case. Making peace with Team Trump can only help him in that endeavor."
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) once seemed a likely choice, but she's since come under scrutiny when it was revealed that she detailed in her upcoming book how she shot and killed her 14-month old puppy, Cricket, who was deemed "untrainable." Noem has defended the move, as Leah covered.
The New York Post also reported on Monday that sources close to Trump are saying she now has "no shot." A source said that Noem "was already unlikely to be picked as VP, but had a shot," also being quoted as saying "[a]fter this, it’s just impossible.”
There's also a role for DeSantis when it comes to the November election as President Joe Biden is looking to put Florida in play by appealing to young voters over pro-abortion ballot initiatives. Biden even showed up in Florida last week to campaign on his rabidly pro-abortion message, which DeSantis called him out on. In order to pass, the ballot initiative must have 60 percent support, which it looks to be lacking. RealClearPolling shows that Trump is leading Biden in Florida by +9.
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