'Meatball Ron': Trump takes aim at DeSantis in 1am social media rant

Former President Donald Trump spent the early morning hours on his social media platform taking jabs at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and refuting reports about his alleged nickname for the governor, according to a new report published by Mediaite.

On Saturday, February 18, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, and addressed the claims that he's been referring to the Republican governor as "Meatball Ron" behind closed doors.

According to a New York Times report also published on Saturday, Trump has made the remarks in private conversations presumably in reference to DeSantis' Italian ancestry.

READ MORE: 'Thumb in the eye': Trump loyalists freak out over DeSantis’ 'disgusting' alliance with a Dominion lawyer

In addition to Trump's meatball reference, reports have also noted that he's referred to the governor as “Shutdown Ron” due to the restrictions he implemented at the onset of the pandemic.

The former president's latest remarks come as speculation continues to build about the possibility of DeSantis entering the 2024 presidential race. For Trump, the suspense has been an annoyance and per Mediaite, he believes DeSantis "owes him because of his gubernatorial endorsement in 2018."

While it's no secret that Trump has referred to DeSantis as "Ron DeSanctimonious," he denies the latest claims. In his post, he ranted saying, “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will.”

He added, “Even though FoxNews [sic] killing lightweight Paul Ryan is revered by him, Low Energy Jeb Bush is his hero and always at his side, his beaches and State were closed for long periods of time, his testing, testing, testing for the China Virus didn’t work out too well, and his loyalty skills are really weak, it would be totally inappropriate to use the word ‘meatball’ as a moniker for Ron!”

READ MORE: 'Yikes': Ex-Trump lawyer startled by Trump fundraising email 'impersonating' DeSantis — but it's fake

The former president has denied the claims more than once over the last couple of days.

Trump also wrote, “All of the Fake News is reporting that I spend large amounts of my time coming up with a good ‘nickname’ for Ron DeSanctimonious, who is obviously going to give the presidential ‘thing’ a shot.”

READ MORE: Why DeSantis supporters’ response to Trump’s 'groomer' attack is 'hypocritical' and 'pathetic': conservative