GOP columnist warns Ron DeSantis 'there would be hell to pay' running for president against Donald Trump

"There would be hell to pay" if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were to run against former President Donald Trump for the presidency in the 2024 election. That's the opinion of a Republican who has discussed their presidential aspirations with both men, according to an NBC News report, who added, "Trump made Ron."

DeSantis appeared Monday morning on the conservative podcast "The Truth with Lisa Boothe." DeSantis made it clear he’s eying his re-election bid for governor as a launching off point for something bigger, even though he won't come out and publicly say that he aspires to the Oval Office.

It seems that DeSantis thinks his record as governor of the Sunshine State qualifies him to run the country. He told Boothe: “My goal would be, if we win the election really big, people like you who analyze these things are going to say: ‘The days of Florida being a swing state are over. Florida is a red state.’ And I think that’s because of a lot of what we’ve done."

According to the report, part of the calculus of a possible Trump-DeSantis contest is how much sway the former president would have in a state where DeSantis holds a sizable favorable opinion rating.

If DeSantis wins reelection, decides not to run for president so soon after the vote and has tens of millions of dollars in the bank afterward, Trump could pressure him to turn over that bounty to a pro-Trump super PAC to fuel his own reelection bid.

"Trump insiders have been discussing plans to have Trump announce his White House plans in early January, making it more difficult for a newly re-elected governor like DeSantis to announce a presidential bid without coming into direct confrontation with Trump.," NBC reports.