Trump pals’ 2024 fear

That DeSantis will run

Former President Donald Trump has said he’s not worried about Ron DeSantis jumping into the 2024 Republican presidential race, but his associates are trying to kill a White House bid by the Florida governor, according to a report Monday.

Trump and DeSantis are widely viewed as the leading contenders for the Republican nomination in 2024, and the report by The New Yorker said the former president claimed to have a “very good relationship” with the governor and added that “I’m proud of Ron.”

However, the outlet claimed that Trump has become increasingly resentful of DeSantis as the Floridian’s popularity grows in Republican circles.

“He won’t kiss the ring,” the magazine quoted a political leader who talks to DeSantis as saying.

The main source of tension between the two appears to be DeSantis’ drift from Trump’s influence, as shown by the governor’s dwindling number of visits to Mar-aLago since the 2020 presidential election.

Trump was also annoyed, according to the report, that DeSantis did not rule out a presidential campaign despite knowing Trump was teeing up another White House run.

One Republican political consultant told The New Yorker, “Trump World is working overtime to find ways to burn DeSantis down. They really hate him.”

DeSantis has raised his national profile and burnished his conservative brand by pushing the state to reopen quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic and by engaging with the Walt Disney Co. in a beef over the entertainment giant’s opposition to the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.

At the Western Conservative Summit earlier this month in Colorado, DeSantis bested Trump by 3 percentage points in a straw poll of 2024 presidential candidates.

The governor received 74% approval from the attendees, compared to Trump’s 71%. The next closest potential GOP contender was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at 29%.