Donors, Allies Ask: Is DeSantis Ready For Trump?

A number of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s donors and allies are worried his recent stumbles hint he may not be ready for a war with Donald Trump.

Photo Insert: The former US President and Florida Governor during friendlier times

They say he needs to accelerate his timeline to run for the GOP presidential nomination and begin confronting Trump if he's to have any chance of thwarting his foe’s momentum, Dasha Burns and Jonathan Allen reported for NBC News.

Others believe DeSantis should sidestep Trump altogether and wait until 2028 to run.

At a Sunday luncheon following the annual Red Cross ball in Palm Beach, Florida, a group of 16 prominent Republicans, described by one attendee as a mix of DeSantis backers and Trump "skeptics," discussed misgivings about the governor's standing for the future if he tussles with the former president.

“They liked him — many of them might even support him,” a participant said of DeSantis. “But they thought on balance that his long-term future was better without him trying to take Trump head on. He will get scarred up” by Trump, he added.

Then there’s conservative billionaire shipping goods magnate Richard Uihlein and wife, Elizabeth, whose $500,000 in contributions ranked them among the most generous donors to DeSantis’ 2022 re-election campaign.

A person familiar with the strategy around Uihlein’s spending said that right now, “The brakes are pumped,” adding, “The polling really made different people pause.”

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