DeSantis Is Courting Donors at Secret Dinners With One Major Line: I’m the Drama-Free Trump

Governor hosts donors in Tallahassee ahead of 2024 bid
Amid a decline in polls, DeSantis courts rich benefactors

Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, speaks during a news conference at the Jerusalem Post Conference in Jerusalem, Israel, on Thursday, April 27, 2023.Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Nancy Cook

May 12, 2023 at 5:00 PM UTC

Updated on

May 12, 2023 at 8:20 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Ron DeSantis, at a series of private dinners in recent weeks, has intensified his pitch to conservative donors that he’s better suited than Donald Trump to advance their agenda in the 2024 presidential race.

In several gatherings at the Florida governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, DeSantis, 44, and his wife, Casey, have tried to sell potential supporters on their path to win the 2024 Republican nomination, according to three attendees. DeSantis has cast himself as someone who would accelerate the priorities Trump set as president but without all of the drama he stirred while in office.