Former president Donald Trump He had a one-on-one meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over breakfast on Sunday, according to six familiar sources.
One source described the meeting as “nice” and “friendly,” adding that DeSantis plans to help raise money for Trump. A separate source said the meeting was mutually agreed upon and arranged by Steven Witkoff, chairman of a real estate company the two men have mutual ties to.
However, a Trump campaign official told NBC News that DeSantis contacted Trump’s team through Witkoff two weeks ago to set up a meeting to “bury the hatchet” and discuss fundraising.
An informative meeting first The Washington PostIt happened in Florida. The governor was playing golf at the Shell Bay Club near Miami, where he joined the former president for breakfast.
Sunday’s meeting comes after DeSantis told donors and supporters during a private retreat in April is planned To help raise money for the former president’s campaign, as NBC News first reported.
A few months ago, DeSantis criticized Trump during the Republican primary race, referring to the former president as a candidate. working on personal issues.
“If he’s running for personal vendetta, it’s not going to lead to what we need as a country,” DeSantis told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in a December interview.
“You have to run for the American people and their issues, not about your personal issues, and that’s a difference between us,” he said.
Separately, DeSantis said “The swamp has not been drained” under Trump. He also criticized Trump for his stance on abortion, saying on his radio show that “all pro-lifers should know that he is going to sell you out.”
after suspension Days before the New Hampshire primary, DeSantis endorsed Trump, saying, “We cannot go back to the old Republican guard, a repackaged form of warmed-up corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
Trump has yet to choose a running mate, but DeSantis has long said he would not run for vice president.
“I don’t want to be vice president. I don’t want to be in the Cabinet of Ministers. I don’t want a TV show,” DeSantis said before dropping out in January. “I’m out there to win it.”
He made the message even more stark the previous month, saying, “I can tell you in any case, I will not accept” his candidacy for vice president.