One of Donald Trump‘s former top allies is toying with a presidential run in the 2028 election.
Despite the 79-year-old president hinting that he’d love to stay in office for a third term, it is constitutionally impossible due to a law mandating a president only serve a maximum of two terms.
As a result, there have been questions about who his supporters would rally behind as a viable replacement.
In a recent interview, a politician that was once viewed as a viable successor for Trump — before they briefly became bitter enemies — hinted that they might be willing to launch a campaign.
Keep reading to find out more…
During an appearance on Hang Out with Sean Hannity, which aired in full on Tuesday (March 24), Ron DeSantis was asked if he’d throw his name in the ring for 2028.
The 47-year-old governor of Florida played it coy, replying, “We’ll see.”
His answer comes after he campaigned for the Republican nominee in the 2024 election. DeSantis, up to that point, largely enjoyed a positive relationship with Trump. However, it soured during the campaign, with the president nicknaming him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
DeSantis dropped out of the race in January 2024 and regained the president’s support by endorsing him at the time.
Looking back on the campaign with Hannity, DeSantis said things might have been different had Trump not been in the running.
“I think that, you know, in ’24… Like in Iowa, the people that voted for Trump, if he wasn’t running, I would have gotten like 90% of those people. They were conservative voters, right? They didn’t want the non-conservative that, you know. They wanted me,” he hypothesized.
DeSantis added. “The timing didn’t work out obviously for that. So you’ve just got to see what happens.”
He addressed the 2024 campaign earlier in the interview, noting that he and Trump have since mended their relationship and play golf together.
“I endorsed him once he beat me in Iowa, and, I mean, it was just the reality. Where, you know, like what I did in Florida, I felt replicating that in the nation would set this country up for 25-30 years,” he admitted.
The governor recalled conversations he’d have with potential voters across the United States, including one man who said that he’d “be a better president than Ronald Reagan.” However, the man than followed up the compliment by saying that he’d vote for him “if Trump weren’t running.”
“I’m like, ‘Well, what the hell? How am I going to overcome that?’ You think I would be better than Reagan, and you still won’t vote for me?” he remembered thinking at the time.
Regarding their conversation after he endorsed Trump, DeSantis recalled, “Obviously he’s like, ‘You know you shouldn’t have run.’ And I said, ‘Listen. I didn’t think you could win.’ “