The two met for several hours, and Mr. DeSantis agreed to support Mr. Trump. Officials said the meeting was friendly.
President Trump and his allies are lagging behind President Biden and his allies in pursuing funding. DeSantis has built an extensive network of wealthy backers whose support could be useful as he attempts to close the gap with President Trump, and among some Republican voters weary of Trump. popular.
DeSantis also has an incentive to forge a closer relationship. Those close to Mr. DeSantis say they cannot continue to maintain a tense relationship with Mr. Trump, especially as he looks toward his own political future. He is widely seen among Republican donors and consultants as having been weakened by Trump’s shellacking in the primaries.
The meeting was organized by and attended by Steve Witkoff, a Florida real estate broker who is an acquaintance of both men. Mr. Witkoff called the former president’s team and asked them to meet with Mr. DeSantis, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis have not spoken since the end of the bitter primary in Iowa, where Mr. DeSantis withdrew after months of attacks from Mr. Trump and his supporters. . Mr. DeSantis provided a video endorsing Mr. Trump on the day he withdrew from the race.
“It’s clear that the vast majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in a video message posted to social media site X on Sunday afternoon. And they see Democrats using the law to attack him to this day. ”
However, Mr. DeSantis has not campaigned for or supported Mr. Trump since then, and in fact has been a behind-the-scenes critic of Mr. Trump. A source close to the Florida governor said Mr. DeSantis was angry at Mr. Trump and his team’s handling of the election during the primary.
In a February phone call with supporters after his withdrawal, DeSantis criticized Trump’s supporters, saying the president had political baggage.
“I think there are people in his inner circle that were in orbit that we fired years ago. I think some of them are just people with an ax to grind,” DeSantis said. he said. The comment infuriated the Trump campaign.
At the time, Trump aide Chris Lacivita called DeSantis a “sad little man.”
Although Mr. DeSantis is widely disliked in President Trump’s circles, Mr. DeSantis has shown himself to be generous and surprisingly willing to make deals when it benefits him.
“Are you going to use the name Ron DeSanctimonius?” he said after Mr. DeSantis endorsed him. “I said that name is officially retired.”
Although the two were not personally close, Trump supported DeSantis in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race and once considered him a rising star in the party.
In recent weeks, Mr. DeSantis has held events for donors at his Florida resort, and those close to Mr. DeSantis say he is potentially interested in running for president again in 2028. He said he was there. During the Republican primary, Mr. Trump told his advisers he wanted to deliver a blow to Mr. DeSantis heading into 2028. Too. But he has shifted his focus to Biden and his criminal case in recent weeks, and Trump allies say they would look favorably on DeSantis raising money for him. .
