Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is crisscrossing the country as he lays the groundwork for an increasingly likely 2028 presidential campaign, refining his pitch and working to move past his bruising 2024 defeat by President Trump.
WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is crisscrossing the country as he lays the groundwork for an increasingly likely 2028 presidential campaign — refining his pitch, building relationships and working to move past his bruising 2024 defeat by President Trump.
The term-limited Sunshine State governor, 47, started the week by joining business leaders at the Milken Institute’s global conference in Beverly Hills and will keynote the New York Republican Party’s May 19 annual gala at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
“I’m in my mid-40s. [20]28, you know, maybe beyond that, I think that there’s a lot of runway,” DeSantis said Monday when asked if he would run for president.
“Who knows? Like, you never know,” he told The Post’s Charles Gasparino during a moderated discussion, before launching into what sounded like a campaign pitch.
“Who took a state that had more Democrats than Republicans by 300,000 when he got elected [in 2018], and now has 1.5 million more Republicans?” DeSantis asked, referring to himself.
“Who had a state that had a trillion-dollar economy and now has $1.8 trillion? Who has a state that had some school choice, now universal? A 50-year low in the crime rate? So we’ve got a good story to tell.”
A Republican insider told The Post of the Florida governor that “it’s not been a secret he’s running.”