Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a busy travel schedule this week. After a brief visit over the weekend to Orem, Utah — where he spoke at the state Republican Party convention and applauded Florida for being the “Utah of the Southeast” — DeSantis left on a world tour.
DeSantis flew to Japan on Monday, kicking off a four-nation tour and polishing his foreign policy credentials, while Trump attended a Southwest Florida county GOP dinner last Friday and threw plenty of jabs at DeSantis’ way over the weekend.
DeSantis met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and afterward told reporters that he is “a big supporter” of the alliance between the two countries.
“I think Japan’s been a heck of an ally for our country, and I think a strong Japan is good for America, and I think a strong America is good for Japan,” he said, according to The New York Times.
The Florida governor is set to meet officials in South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom “to strengthen economic relationships and continue to demonstrate Florida’s position as an economic leader,” DeSantis said prior to the trip.
Although DeSantis hasn’t launched his campaign for president, he is expected to do so in the coming months. Still, polls show former President Donald Trump has 48% support among Republican voters, compared to DeSantis’ 24%, as Deseret News reported.
When asked if he had any thoughts on the hypothetical Republican primary polls where he trails behind Trump, DeSantis told reporters in Japan, “I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if and when that changes.”
Trump was quick to make comments about DeSantis’ “emergency Round the World tour of U.S representative population countries,” as he said on TruthSocial on Monday.
He speculated that the goal might be to “remove the stain from his failing campaign.”
“Bad poll numbers! Perhaps he can, and perhaps he can’t, who really knows, but he’ll have plenty of time to think as he sits alone, on his tax payer funded airplane, riding it out and thinking, WHY???” Trump added.
Trump was at the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, a private and ticketed event, prior to hosting an informal pizza party in Fort Myers on Friday.
During his speech, Trump took multiple jabs at DeSantis over his views on Social Security and Medicare as well as his standing in the polls, while he ran through a series of PowerPoint slides, one of which said: “Trump Posts Biggest Lead Yet Over DeSantis.”
“I will always protect Social Security and Medicare,” Trump said, according to News-Press. “Gee, I wonder who voted for hurting Social Security and I wonder who voted for partially dismantling Medicare? Who is it?”
Although DeSantis isn’t officially in the race and has chosen to mostly ignore Trump’s attacks, the CEO of a super PAC supporting him pushed back on Trump’s comments, according to a statement.
“The good news is that since so many people are moving to the state of Florida, thanks to the incredible success of Governor Ron DeSantis, no one will notice when Trump leaves,” Never Back Down’s Chris Jankowski said. “The state of Florida will be better off when Trump takes his Soros-fueled, dumpster fire of a campaign to San Francisco, where it will fit right in.”
Trump, a known lover of fast food, put a personal touch on his Friday outing by ending up at Downtown House of Pizza, along with a large crowd of about 100 who followed him from the dinner event.
“A lot of politicians have been put out of business for eating pizza with a fork,” Trump said, holding a pizza box in his hands, as CNN’s Kate Sullivan reported.
In a viral clip, he grabs a slice as the crowd around him chants “Trump! Trump! Trump.” The former president then takes a big bite, mumbles “It’s good” before asking the crowd: “Does anyone want a piece that I’ve eaten?”