Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Family Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023.
Rebecca S. Gratz | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to formally announce next week he is running for president in 2024, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The governor’s official entry into the Republican primary field will put him head-to-head with former President Donald Trump, the party’s current frontrunner for the nomination. Trump has already spent months treating DeSantis as his primary campaign rival, thrashing him with torrents of criticism over his gubernatorial record, his political skills and his personality.
DeSantis was already on track to make a public announcement about his political plans by the end of May. His political operation’s recent move to a new location reportedly triggered a 15-day window for him to file a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
But he will instead make an official announcement within the next seven days, NBC confirmed.
The announcement will come at a precarious moment for DeSantis. While he won an overwhelming reelection victory in November and enjoys high levels of support in Florida, polls of the potential primary field show him trailing Trump by increasingly wide margins.
Meanwhile, some in his own party have started to question his strategy about a few of his most high-profile actions as governor. DeSantis’ willingness to use the power of his office to engage in polarizing social-issue fights helped propel him to the national stage. But one of his most significant battles against Disney has morphed into a protracted court battle that shows no signs of resolving soon.
“DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney,” Trump crowed Thursday after the company announced it was scrapping plans to open a new employee campus in Florida.
A spokesperson for DeSantis’ political operation declined CNBC’s request for comment on earlier reporting that the governor would be submitting key FEC filings next week.