Ron DeSantis has Trump in his sights again.
The Florida governor just drew a line in the sand for the 2026 race.
And Ron DeSantis just slapped down Donald Trump's top pick with one career-ending attack.
DeSantis refuses to back Trump's endorsed candidate
Florida's 2026 gubernatorial race is turning into round two of the DeSantis-Trump grudge match from the 2024 primaries.
Governor Ron DeSantis made it crystal clear he won't back U.S. Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) to replace him as governor, despite Trump giving Donalds his "complete and total endorsement" back in February.
DeSantis unloaded on Donalds during an interview with The Floridian, questioning whether the Naples congressman is the right conservative to carry forward his agenda.
The governor also hedged on endorsing his own Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, who was appointed in August and has been positioning himself as DeSantis' natural successor.
"So you won't probably get involved in the race if Jay gets in?" asked The Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres.
"Well, we'll see what happens," DeSantis replied.¹
But DeSantis saved his harshest criticism for Donalds, who broke with the governor during Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
https://twitter.com/CookedGooseinFL/status/1995916639863189542?s=20
DeSantis accuses Donalds of being soft on crime and siding with Kamala Harris
DeSantis hammered Donalds over the congressman's record in the Florida House before he went to Washington, D.C.
The governor said Donalds supported reducing Florida's Truth and Sentencing laws, which require inmates to serve 85% of their sentences.
"I think that would cause the crime rate to spike. I killed that as governor. Didn't even make it to my desk," DeSantis stated. "And I've had to veto a lot of weak-on-crime bills."²
The proposed legislation would have reduced the requirement to closer to 60% of sentences served.
DeSantis claimed the bill would have authorized 8,000 or 9,000 felons for early release.
That's retreat mode from a supposedly tough-on-crime Republican.
But DeSantis didn't stop there.
He also blasted Donalds for his 2023 comments criticizing one line in Florida's controversial African American history standards that said enslaved people developed skills that could be applied "for their personal benefit."
Vice President Kamala Harris torched Florida over those standards during a 2023 speech, calling them "revisionist history."
Donalds sided with critics over that single sentence in Florida's 200-page curriculum, calling it "ridiculous" during a Fox News interview.
"That's really cheap to side with her over the state of Florida, that's fighting woke, that's fighting all that stuff," DeSantis said.³
https://twitter.com/JayCollinsFL/status/1994506719766962553?s=20
The governor's camp has been working overtime to undermine Donalds' candidacy.
NBC News reported in March that DeSantis' political operation was calling state lobbyists, pressuring them not to back Donalds for governor.⁴
DeSantis and Donalds were once allies before their falling out during Trump's presidential campaign.
DeSantis dismisses James Fishback's controversial campaign launch
DeSantis also gave little attention to James Fishback, the 30-year-old investment CEO who announced his candidacy last week.
Fishback drew immediate fire for repeatedly calling Donalds "a slave" to his donors, special interests, and "tech bros" during his campaign announcement outside the Florida Capitol.
"I don't know him, and I haven't really followed him. I mean, I've heard some chatter, but that's just not, not my cup of tea," DeSantis said about the "slave" remark.⁵
https://twitter.com/j_fishback/status/1993001257825652834?s=20
The governor indicated he won't endorse any candidate before the August 2026 Republican primary.
"I don't get involved in a lot of primaries. You know, when I do it's got to line up," DeSantis explained, citing candidates' conservative records as the key factor.⁶
Even close friends won't get automatic backing.
DeSantis promised to support whoever wins the Republican nomination in the general election.
But his message to potential successors was clear: prove you're the real conservative in this race.
"Our voters, you know, they expect me to stand for what I've stood for, and I've been very diligent about kind of sticking with that," DeSantis stated.⁷
The not-so-subtle dig at Donalds hung in the air like smoke from a fired shot.
This gubernatorial race is shaping up as a proxy war between two heavyweights who still haven't buried the hatchet from 2024.
https://twitter.com/realJennaEllis/status/1995902976976732581?s=20
Trump's backing of Donalds could torpedo the ambitions of both DeSantis' lieutenant governor and First Lady Casey DeSantis, who was rumored to be considering a run earlier this year.
DeSantis won his 2022 re-election by the biggest margin any Republican governor has ever won in Florida.
He's made it clear he won't hand that legacy to someone who doesn't measure up to his conservative standards.
And right now, Trump's pick doesn't make the grade.
¹ Javier Manjarres, "DeSantis Hedges on Backing Collins, Accuses Donalds of Being Soft on Crime, Woke on Education," The Floridian, December 2, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Sahil Kapur, "Ron DeSantis' team is urging Florida lobbyists not to back Rep. Byron Donalds for governor," NBC News, March 19, 2025.
⁵ Manjarres, "DeSantis Hedges on Backing Collins," The Floridian.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
