Trump’s endorsements paid off in early efforts to sink DeSantis

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As JD Vance called to thank those who supported his successful Ohio Senate campaign last fall, donors on the other end shared helpful information.

Establishment Republicans are calling some of the same people, trying to build support for a potential presidential run by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to two sources familiar with the Vances’ conversations. Vance, who owed his victory in large part to the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, moved to quickly return the favor.

The Hillbilly Elegy author soon wrote an endorsement of Trumps 2024 bid for The Wall Street Journal an early missile in a full-scale effort by the former president’s allies to stop a campaign DeSantis before its launch.

Trump is now relying on those relationships forged during his two previous campaigns and four years in the White House to build a political juggernaut capable of surging to the GOP nomination.

For reasons of personal connection, political calculation and for being purely transactional, he is reaping the benefits of his past support for Republicans who are now in a position to retaliate. Some of his endorsements have backfired in the party, particularly during the 2022 midterms in battlegrounds such as Arizona and Pennsylvania. But others are bearing fruit for Trump himself in time for a showdown with DeSantis who, according to polls, remains his closest rival.

As of Friday, Trump had endorsements from more than 50 members of Congress: nine senators and 48 representatives, including more than half of the Florida Republicans who serve in the House.

It’s like a knife through butter, a Trump campaign official said of efforts to lock down endorsements in Florida. We don’t have to do a lot of convincing.

While the strong showing of support does not quite give Trump an aura of incompetence, it does contribute to a widely held perception supported by polling that he is the overwhelming favorite for the nomination in this moment And the endorsements put pressure on the rest of the field to show similar signs of strength to voters and donors.

DeSantis, who has yet to declare his candidacy, has secured three congressional endorsements, with only one coming from a Florida member: his former secretary of state, Rep. Laurel Lee. A separate senior Trump aide said the campaign did not even attempt to secure Lee’s endorsement because of his ties to the DeSantis administration.

DeSantis’ allies, however, say Trumps endorsement list shows weakness, not strength.

Donald Trump had near-unanimous Republican support in 2020 and every vote not behind him now is a defection, said Erin Perrine, a spokeswoman for Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC. Trump only has ground to lose in endorsements while Governor DeSantis, who is not even an announced candidate, continues to gain a growing base of support.

But some DeSantis supporters have drawn grim attention to the flood of institutional support for Trump.

There is definite concern, said Dan Eberhart, a longtime DeSantis donor who remains in the Florida governor’s camp. It feels like Trump is safely ahead.

If DeSantis is going to be the nominee, you’d think he’d have to go first in Florida to begin with, Eberhart added.

A Trump campaign official predicted DeSantis might receive just one additional endorsement from his state congressional delegation: Rep. Aaron Bean, a former Republican member of the Florida Senate who is a close ally of DeSantis. A spokesman for Bean declined to comment.

Trumps political team, this official added, has received signals from some members who are concerned about DeSantis vetoing state budget items important to their congressional districts. There is hope among Trumps team that these members will publicly support the former president after the state budget process is out of whack and DeSantis is less on top of where funding can flow.

Trump launched many of the endorsements in Florida this week with a dramatic drumbeat timed to DeSantis’ meeting with lawmakers in Washington. Trump then invited those Republicans to a private dinner Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort.

During the nearly four-hour dinner, much of the conversation focused on foreign policy, including extensive discussions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the campaign official, who was at the event. DeSantis’ name came up briefly when Trump bragged about polls showing him making progress after being indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“He talks about DeSantis in private the same way he does in public,” the campaign official said. “I don’t remember if he used a nickname or not, but I do remember him talking excitedly about ‘Ron, Ron, Ron’ as he discussed the poll numbers.”

Each member of the Florida delegation in attendance received a copy of Trump’s new book, “Letters to Trump,” with a personalized handwritten message.

Adding insult to injury in DeSantis’ home-state this week, a member of the House from another state, Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas, emerged from a meeting in Washington with the governor and immediately endorsed Trump. The endorsement caught the Trump team off guard.

The campaign had to scramble to get a press release and graphics together,” the campaign official said.

The efforts built on the campaigns’ strategy of coordinating endorsement parades in states Trump has visited in recent months, from South Carolina and Iowa to Texas and Tennessee. Brian Jack, who served as political director in the Trump White House, is leading that project, but campaign co-managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita are also using their contacts to line up support for the former president, including senior adviser Jason Miller, according to Trump aides.

The main weapon, however, is Trump, who meets with elected officials in person at Mar-a-Lago or on the campaign trail and is accessible by phone, a senior aide said.

Often invite members to join the president, meet them here on the campaign trail and then obviously the president can ask questions himself, the aide said. Many of these members do not need that request to occur.

Last Friday, Trump scheduled dinner with half a dozen congressional Republicans from Tennessee and their spouses during a speech he gave at a Republican National Committee donor retreat in Nashville.

Man, every single person here benefited from him, the senior Trump aide recalled thinking as he watched the president interact with lawmakers for three hours. Trump emerged with endorsements from all six, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, who won the elections with the help of the Trumps.

The endorsements are just one part of the early stages of the president’s grassroots organizing, fundraising and staffing among others, but Trump aides say they see significant value in racking them. Specifically, the senior aide said, they feed into other aspects of the campaign. Each of the elected officials has their own organization in their own state or district, each has a donor network that can be tapped for Trump, and each can act as a surrogate locally and in several states. case of the national media.

Rep. Alex Mooney, a Republican Senate hopeful in West Virginia, described his endorsement of Trump 2024 in transactional terms. The former president, he said, backed him in a tough House primary last year and he hopes that support will extend to his Senate bid next year in a state where the GOP hopes to oust the Democratic incumbent. Joe Manchin. It’s no sure thing, though. Trump is also a fan of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who is considering jumping into the primary with Mooney.

Actually, running for the Senate is a continuation of his endorsement last year in the tough primary that I had, Mooney said of Trump. I told him we have to get Manchin next. I hope hell keeps endorsing and supporting me, because that’s the plan all along, I thought. But if not, maybe Justice and I should just fight and support whoever wins the primary.

Vance said the poll and Republican outrage over Trump’s indictment in Manhattan on charges related to payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels bolstered support around the former president. The Ohio senator, who said he has urged his chamber colleagues to join him in the endorsement and believes some will soon follow suit, described his own endorsement of Trump as one made out of deep loyalty.

I think our politics would work better if people were honest with their friends, and he totally supports me, Vance said. I think it’s important not to stab your friends in the back.

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