DeSantis to unveil presidential campaign next week: reports

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will officially jump into the Republican presidential primary next week, according to multiple reports, mounting a long-expected challenge to former President Trump.

DeSantis will likely file the paperwork for his candidacy May 25, coinciding with a meeting with donors in Miami, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported late Wednesday that DeSantis was set to enter the race. His formal launch will follow the next week, it added.

DeSantis is set to hold a launch event in his hometown of Dunedin, Florida, The Washington Post reported, after Memorial Day.

DeSantis has been laying the groundwork for a White House bid for months, including a packed travel schedule that has taken him to key nominating states in the Republican primary process and overseas for meetings with foreign leaders. He is widely seen as the top rival to Trump for the GOP presidential nomination.

The reports of DeSantis’s entry comes as his feud with Trump has escalated in recent weeks. Trump has been aggressive in his criticism of the Florida governor, taking credit for putting him in the governor’s mansion with a 2018 endorsement and bashing him for his record leading the state.

DeSantis has been more reserved in his approach to Trump but criticized him this week for failing to say whether he would back a six-week abortion ban, a measure DeSantis signed into law in Florida.

DeSantis would join Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in the 2024 Republican primary race. 

A number of other GOP figures are weighing bids, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The Hill has reached out to DeSantis for comment.