Trump called him "DeSanctimonious" and tried to end his career.
Now the same man is about to hand Trump five extra House seats.
And Trump just told a reporter he would hire Ron DeSantis.
From Dead Politically to Prime Minister in Waiting
Trump made Ron DeSantis in 2018.
Without that endorsement, DeSantis loses the GOP primary to Adam Putnam and nobody outside Tallahassee knows his name.
Trump rescued him when he had nothing, and for years DeSantis repaid the favor by governing Florida like MAGA was a religion.
Then he made a mistake.
He challenged the man who built him.
Trump went to war.
He called him "DeSanctimonious," said his Florida record was "a mirage," labeled him a "RINO globalist," and told anyone who would listen that DeSantis was "dead politically" before 2018.
It was a full-scale demolition job.
DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 race after getting annihilated in Iowa – losing all 99 counties.
His super PAC had burned through nearly $146 million.
The rehabilitation was complete.
The Comeback Nobody Bet On
DeSantis did something smart.
He didn't sulk.
He endorsed Trump the moment he quit the race, raised millions for his PAC, and gave a well-received speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Then he called a special immigration session in Florida.
Then he used emergency powers to build "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Everglades – a migrant detention facility housing 3,000 detainees – in eight days flat.
Trump flew down to see it personally.
Standing in the swamps of Ochopee, Trump told reporters their relationship was "a ten – maybe nine point nine."
"You are my friend, and you'll always be my friend," Trump said.
The Redistricting Play That Bought the Relationship
Now DeSantis is doing something even more valuable to Trump than building swamp prisons.
He is about to redraw Florida's congressional map in a way that could deliver three to five additional Republican House seats.
Florida already has 20 Republicans and eight Democrats in its congressional delegation.
https://twitter.com/CryptidPolitics/status/2035710079832318185?s=20
The April special session – set for April 20-24 in Tallahassee – is the clearest proof yet that DeSantis understands how to earn back Trump's trust.
Not with words.
With seats.
The GOP's House majority is paper-thin, Democrats need only three seats to flip the chamber, and the 2026 midterms historically punish the president's party.
DeSantis is giving Trump a firewall.
That is the context for Trump's comment this week.
When a News Nation reporter asked if he would consider hiring DeSantis, Trump replied: "Don't know, but I'd certainly consider it. I think he's good, doing a good job."
What Loyalty Actually Gets You
Nobody knows the specific role, but two positions keep coming up.
A Supreme Court seat – Trump has appointments coming, and DeSantis is a Harvard Law graduate with the credentials to sail through confirmation.
Or attorney general, if Pam Bondi doesn't last another year at Main Justice.
Either one is a reward that Washington said DeSantis would never see again.
Here's what the political class got completely wrong about Trump.
They assumed he wanted DeSantis destroyed – humiliated, finished, radioactive to donors, erased from the Republican future.
And for a while it looked that way.
Every county in Iowa. Nearly $146 million torched. Career over.
https://twitter.com/LibbeyDean_/status/2036528614640914468?s=20
But Trump has never actually wanted to destroy people who prove their loyalty after the fact.
He wanted to teach them something.
DeSantis learned it.
He built a swamp prison in eight days and is now about to hand the GOP five House seats at the most dangerous moment in the midterm cycle.
That's not a man Trump wants to bury.
That's a man Trump wants to use.
And that is exactly how this president operates – he breaks you, you prove yourself, and then he lifts you higher than you were before.
The same playbook that made DeSantis governor in the first place.
Loyalty gets punished once.
Then rewarded twice.
DeSantis told Hannity this week he wouldn't rule out 2028, and he's right to keep that door open.
Because the fastest road back to the White House runs straight through Mar-a-Lago.
Sources:
- "Trump says he'd consider hiring DeSantis next year," News Nation, March 24, 2026.
- "Trump says his relationship with one-time rival DeSantis now a '9.9,'" Fox News, July 2, 2025.
- "DeSantis launches Florida redistricting for more Republican seats," Fox News, January 8, 2026.
- "Florida Gov Ron DeSantis addresses possible 2028 White House run," Fox News, March 24, 2026.
- "Trump and Ron DeSantis put aside rivalry at 'Alligator Alcatraz,'" NBC News, July 2, 2025.
