'We will beat him': Trump's feud with Ron DeSantis may have just been reignited

16 July

President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) appeared to have buried the hatchet after the two recently toured a new detention camp for undocumented immigrants in the Florida Everglades. But the two may be about to exchange blows in another bitter fight in Trump's adopted home state.

Politico reported Wednesday that DeSantis decided to appoint Florida state senator Blaise Ingoglia (R) to his cabinet as Florida's chief financial officer, snubbing the Trump-endorsed candidate — state senator Joe Gruters (R) — in the process. Both Ingoglia and Gruters are expected to face off in a Republican primary for the position in August of next year, and Trump's backers are reportedly predicting a lengthy proxy war with the term-limited Florida governor.

So far, Trump's political team has pledged to stand by Gruters, with Chris LaCivita — who was one of Trump's 2024 campaign managers – saying he would "work to defeat any poser that stands in our way." And longtime Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio said DeSantis' snub of Trump's endorsed candidate "will be viewed as a direct rebuke to the MAGA agenda."

One unnamed senior White House official told Politico that Trump himself is firmly on Gruters' side, as the GOP state senator "has always supported the president." However, the source maintained that Trump did not personally lobby DeSantis to appoint Gruters.

"We have not taken a hard line against Blaise [Ingoglio] — doesn’t mean we won’t,” the official said, before adding, “If we want to beat Blaise, we will beat him.”

Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who won a special election to Congress earlier this year to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) before his short stint as Trump's National Security Advisor, told Politico that Trump's endorsement holds a lot of sway in the Sunshine State. He also observed that DeSantis himself cruised to victory in the 2018 Republican primary after gaining Trump's support, and opined that the governor shouldn't pick fights with the administration.

"If Ron DeSantis wants to campaign against Donald Trump again, he clearly didn’t learn after what happened last time,” Fine said. “It says a lot about how much Ronald values his relationship with Trump.”

Click here to read Politico's full report.

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