President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have rebuilt their relationship despite friction with some of Trump’s advisers as DeSantis weighs his next political moves, reports the Wall Street Journal.
DeSantis, whose second term as governor ends next January, has not ruled out a future presidential run, possibly in 2028. Rumors are also circulating about a possible position in Trump’s cabinet, perhaps even as attorney general.
The Journal said other DeSantis backers are floating him as a potential Supreme Court pick should another justice retire.
“Who knows? Like, you never know,” he said during a roundtable interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles on May 4 when asked about a future presidential run.
“Who took a state that had more Democrats than Republicans by 300,000 when he got elected, and now has 1.5 million more Republicans? Who had a state that had a trillion-dollar economy and now has $1.8 trillion? Who has a state that had some school choice, now universal? A 50-year low in the crime rate?
“So, we’ve got a good story to tell,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis ran for president in 2024 but dropped out after finishing far behind Trump in the Iowa primary.
He and Trump reconciled after a contentious primary, with Trump calling DeSantis a friend and stating they have “blood that seems to match pretty well.”
His relationship with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles remains severed, though, following a bitter fallout in 2019.
Wiles, a top Florida operative, managed DeSantis’ successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign but DeSantis removed her in 2019 following a “falling out” over leaked, unfavorable stories about his administration.
Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone has also criticized DeSantis as untrustworthy.
Trump recently told an associate that he likes DeSantis and that the governor has delivered for him in Florida, per the Journal.
State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras called DeSantis’ moves “political theater for a possible 2028 presidential run.”
DeSantis told the news outlet that politics “is fickle” and that “things change.”
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