Trump posted "RUN, BYRON, RUN" in February 2025 – and DeSantis has been miserable ever since.
Now Donalds is sitting on a 54-point primary lead and telling Univision he doesn't need the governor's blessing to win.
He's right – and DeSantis knows it.
Trump's Endorsement Already Did the Work
Donalds sits at 54% among likely Republican primary voters, according to Fabrizio, Lee & Associates – the same firm that does Trump's polling.
His nearest competitor, investor James Fishback, has climbed all the way to 9%.
Nobody else is in double digits.
Donalds has raised more than $67 million, including $22 million in just the first quarter of 2026.
That's not a primary race – that's a coronation with paperwork still to file.
And yet DeSantis has spent the last three weeks publicly attacking the Florida GOP for not holding a gubernatorial debate, calling it a "farce" and accusing state party chair Evan Power of "insulting the intelligence" of Republican voters.
https://twitter.com/ByronDonalds/status/2067626915003875613?s=20
Here's what DeSantis isn't saying out loud: the debate rules require 10% in RPOF polling, $10 million raised, and 10,000 donors.
Donalds is the only candidate who hit all three.
His competitors didn't earn a debate stage.
They just want one.
The Fight DeSantis Can't Win
Donalds told Univision exactly why he backed Trump over DeSantis in 2024.
"As great of a job as Gov. DeSantis has done for our state, I felt, truly, that we needed somebody in the Oval Office who had done that job and knew exactly where all the buttons and all the levers are," he said.
That's not a dig – that's a door closing politely.
DeSantis responded by claiming Donalds wasn't around for Florida's conservative victories, specifically calling him out for missing a House vote on Trump's energy bill to appear on Bill Maher's show in Los Angeles.
"He's just not been a part of it," DeSantis said.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2067268557239365770?s=20
Florida Republican primary voters looked at that attack, looked at Trump's full endorsement, looked at Donalds' $67 million war chest – and shrugged.
The debate fight looks less like a governor defending voters and more like a governor who watched his chosen successor get passed over and can't let it go.
The Irony DeSantis Created Himself
This is the part that should make every Florida Republican wince.
In 2018, Ron DeSantis was a backbench congressman trailing establishment favorite Adam Putnam by double digits in most polls – outspent nearly three-to-one, written off by Florida's political class.
Trump endorsed him anyway.
DeSantis won the primary 57% to 37%.
Now Trump has done the exact same thing for Donalds, and DeSantis is the one withholding the endorsement that once saved his career.
Donalds isn't pretending that doesn't sting.
"I would love to have Gov. DeSantis' support," he told Univision. "He's been great for our state, a tremendous leader during COVID-19."
But he also made clear where his campaign stands.
"We take our message every single day to the people of Florida, and that's why we're winning this campaign."
https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/2054291618149097594?s=20
DeSantis built his career on the argument that Trump's endorsement is the most powerful force in Republican politics.
He was right.
He just didn't plan on being on the wrong side of it.
The August 18 primary is nine weeks away.
DeSantis can endorse the Trump candidate before that date, reclaim some relevance, and go out gracefully – or he can keep picking fights over debate thresholds while Donalds runs straight to the nomination without him.
One of those options ends with a phone call from the governor's mansion to the next governor.
The other ends with silence.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Byron Donalds would 'love' Ron DeSantis' endorsement, but he says he's 'winning' without it," Florida Politics, June 18, 2026.
- Staff, "Latest poll shows Byron Donalds at 54% with GOP Primary voters," Florida Politics, May 4, 2026.
- Staff, "Florida GOP roiled over refusal to hold gubernatorial debate," Washington Examiner, June 16, 2026.
- Staff, "'Farce': Ron DeSantis fumes as Florida GOP snubs his calls for gubernatorial debate," Miami Times Online, June 18, 2026.
- Staff, "Byron Donalds Rockets To Frontrunner Status As GOP Dominance Holds In New 2026 Florida Poll," Tampa Free Press, April 2026.
