Donald Trump warned Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis against running for president in 2024 and threatened him with the release of unflattering information in an interview with Fox News.
“I would tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering — I know more about him than anybody — other than, perhaps, his wife,” Trump said Tuesday.
Trump also claimed DeSantis, who was projected to win reelection to a second term as governor in Tuesday’s midterms, could “hurt himself very badly” if he ran.
“I think he would be making a mistake. I think the base would not like it. I don’t think it would be good for the party,” Trump added. “Any of that stuff is not good. You have other people that possibly will run, I guess. I don’t know if he runs. If he runs, he runs.”
Tensions have soured between the pair amid rumors DeSantis is mulling a bid for the White House, potentially in the same year as Trump seeks a second term.
Trump, though, later asserted that DeSantis was a “fine guy.” The former president is yet to officially launch a 2024 run, but has teased a major announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday.