Trump spent months thrashing Ron DeSantis. Now he's put his onetime protégé on his VP shortlist.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images; Joe Raedle via Getty Images
- Donald Trump might have feuded with his onetime protégé Ron DeSantis during the GOP primaries.
- But he now says DeSantis is on his VP shortlist, which also includes Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy.
- "They're all good, they're all solid," Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may have been one of the worst presidential candidates in recent memory, but he could still find himself in the White House next year.
That is if his frenemy, former President Donald Trump, picks him as his vice president.
On Tuesday, the GOP presidential frontrunner said in a Fox News town hall that DeSantis was on his vice presidential shortlist.
"Honestly, all of those people are good. They're all good, they're all solid," Trump told host Laura Ingraham after she listed potential candidates like DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump acknowledges that Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, Byron Donalds, Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard are on the shortlist for VP pic.twitter.com/2CLNRF2U6i
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 21, 2024
From allies to enemies, and maybe partners?
The Trump-DeSantis relationship has come a long way. The pair first started out as allies, with Trump even going as far as calling DeSantis a "brilliant young leader" when he entered Florida's governor's race.
Trump went on to endorse DeSantis' successful gubernatorial campaign in 2018.
In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, he also praised DeSantis for his response in Florida, saying he had done a "fantastic job."
However, once Trump realized that DeSantis' star was on the rise, marking him out as a potential contender for the 2024 nomination, their relationship started to sour.
In the final months of 2021, stories that Trump was annoyed with DeSantis began to appear, with Vanity Fair reporting in September 2021 that Trump "resents his popularity."
Shortly before the 2022 midterm election, Trump resorted to name-calling, coining the nickname 'Ron DeSanctimonious.'
Following DeSantis' reelection in Florida, Trump put out a statement calling him an "average REPUBLICAN governor with great Public Relations," and rebuked him for not ruling out a presidential bid.
As it became clearer that DeSantis intended to challenge him, Trump told reporters that it would be an act of disloyalty, going as far as to say that he regretted endorsing DeSantis in 2018.
Trump escalated his criticisms, accusing DeSantis in recent months of having "no personality" and amplifying a baseless smear about his time as a high school teacher.
The rift deepened when DeSantis formally announced his candidacy for the presidency, with the pair trading jibes on the campaign trail.
DeSantis criticized the former president as soft on crime, while Trump trialed new nicknames, including "DeSaster."
When DeSantis' campaign was clearly flagging, Trump gleefully declared it "dead."
But Trump and DeSantis appeared to bury the hatchet in January, with the Florida Republican endorsing Trump shortly after dropping out from the GOP presidential primary
Trump then described his one-time rival as a "really terrific person" and congratulated him on doing a "very good job," while speaking at a rally in New Hampshire.
"Will I be using the name Ron DeSanctimonious?" I said that name is officially retired," Trump told his supporters.
DeSantis's team did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, which was sent outside of operating hours.