Florida’s MAGA Gov. Ron DeSantis has loftier ambitions for public office, and won’t let his adulation for President Donald Trump interfere.
DeSantis, 47, did not rule out a potential second run for commander-in-chief when asked about his post-governorship plans on Monday, only weeks after an Axios report highlighted his “begging” of Trump for a job in his administration.
“You never know,” he said at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, according to Politico.
The Trump ally then bragged about his track record as Florida’s governor, highlighting his performance in the role as the epitome of what GOP leadership can look like.
“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?” he said. “Who had a state that had a trillion-dollar economy and now has $1.8 trillion?”
DeSantis’s term as governor expires in January 2027, a year before the presidential primaries begin. His last run for the nation’s highest office failed, as he dropped out and endorsed Trump after falling far behind the 47th president in Iowa.
“We’ve got a good story to tell,” he said on Monday. “We’re proud of the leadership we’ve been able to provide.”
The governor’s office did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s request for comment on his presidential ambitions.
Last month, six insiders told Axios that DeSantis has been “looking for what to do next” and has sought positions in the president’s Cabinet or on the Supreme Court.
Trump told advisers that the Florida governor has tried for several positions, including U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of Defense, sources told the outlet. The two executives met at Trump’s National Doral Golf Club in Miami on April 12, which is where DeSantis reportedly pitched the president.
“Ron was begging me to be AG,” the president told one confidant about the man he previously called “Ron DeSanctimonious,” according to an Axios source.
DeSantis studied law at Harvard and Yale and served as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the Navy for six years.
The outlet reported that the Florida governor’s eagerness for AG “got serious” after Trump axed Pam Bondi last month, which left deputy AG Todd Blanche to fill her shoes in the interim.
However, Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, has shown he’s open to keeping the job on a more permanent basis.
Other sources told Axios that DeSantis was much more interested in a “dream” post on the Supreme Court, rather than Attorney General.
“DeSantis is 100 percent not interested in the AG job, but he would be interested in two things,” a source familiar with discussions told the outlet. “War secretary or Supreme Court, which would be his dream job.”
If Justice Samuel Alito, 76, resigns from his life appointment before a likely midterms disaster, as Republicans have quietly encouraged, an opening could be ripe for a DeSantis appointment.
