Ron DeSantis thought he had what it took to beat Donald Trump.
He bet everything on Iowa and got crushed.
And Ron DeSantis got served one brutal reality check about 2028.
DeSantis keeps deflecting the 2028 question
The question won't go away for Ron DeSantis no matter how many times he tries to dodge it.
"I've got my hands full, man. I'm good," DeSantis told Fox Business host Stuart Varney during a Friday interview in New York City when asked about running for President in 2028.
DeSantis claimed it wasn't the first time he got the question, which makes sense given the massive field of Republicans expected to compete for the nomination once Trump's term ends.
"I'm not thinking about anything because I think we have a President now who's not even been in for a year," DeSantis told CNN's Jake Tapper last month. "We've got a lot that we've got to accomplish."
The Florida Governor is term-limited and will be out of office in January 2027, which means he'll have plenty of time to think about 2028 if he wants another shot at the White House.
But there's one major problem standing in his way.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1996980517137203622?s=20
The polling numbers tell an ugly story DeSantis doesn't want to admit
Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign was supposed to be his coronation as Trump's heir apparent.
Instead, it turned into one of the most spectacular flameouts in modern Republican primary history.
DeSantis put all his chips on Iowa, campaigning across every single one of the state's 99 counties and landing endorsements from Governor Kim Reynolds and evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats.
Trump crushed him anyway, winning by 30 points, and DeSantis couldn't even carry one county.¹
Two days later, DeSantis dropped out and endorsed Trump before the New Hampshire primary even took place.
Fast forward to 2025, and the numbers show his presidential dreams are dead on arrival.
The latest poll from Emerson College puts DeSantis at a pathetic 2% support for 2028.²
That's not a typo. Two percent.
The University of New Hampshire's "Granite State Poll" shows him at 3% in what's historically the first-in-the-nation primary state.³
Vice President JD Vance dominates the field with 51% support in that same poll, while even Nikki Haley (9%) and Tulsi Gabbard (8%) poll ahead of DeSantis.
Other surveys paint the same bleak picture, with DeSantis hovering between 7% and 12% at best, always finishing a distant third or worse behind Vance.
The man who was once dubbed "DeFuture" by Rupert Murdoch's New York Post is now "DeFinished" in the eyes of Republican primary voters.
https://twitter.com/CryptidPolitics/status/1997499576262033619?s=20
What destroyed Ron's 2028 chances before they even started
DeSantis had every advantage heading into 2024 except one: he's not Trump.
He had a massive war chest exceeding $100 million and a sterling conservative record as Governor.
DeSantis also enjoyed wall-to-wall coverage from Fox News and conservative media promoting him as the Trump alternative.
None of it mattered.
DeSantis kicked off his campaign with a train wreck Twitter Spaces event featuring Elon Musk where technical problems made it nearly impossible for anyone to hear what was happening.
It was a humiliating start that set the tone for everything that followed.
DeSantis came across as stiff, awkward, and unable to connect with voters on a personal level.
His no-nonsense style that worked in Florida turned into a liability on the national stage where retail politics matter.
When summer 2023 rolled around, DeSantis was burning through money and forced to slash staff, cutting nearly 40 people from payroll to stop the bleeding.
His super PAC Never Back Down, which spent close to $146 million backing him, went through four different CEOs and an exodus of staff before Iowa even voted.
Trump warned DeSantis in April 2023 that he would "lose the cherished and massive MAGA vote and never be able to successfully run for office again."
Turns out Trump was right.
DeSantis thought 2024 was "his moment" to knock Trump off the stage when the post-January 6 climate had Republicans saying it was "time to turn the page."
https://twitter.com/SimJoeMoore/status/1997022991499313436?s=20
But he and his wife Casey, his closest political advisor, were blinded by ambition and Florida star power.
They misread the room completely.
Republican voters never wanted "Trump without the baggage" or "Trump without the crazy" like establishment types kept saying.
They wanted Trump. Period.
Now DeSantis faces an even more impossible task in 2028.
Trump will be gone, but Vance will be the heir apparent with Trump's full backing and control of the Republican donor network as the RNC's finance chairman.
DeSantis burned through his donor base in 2024, exhausting wealthy contributors who watched him blow through their money before dropping out after a single contest.
Good luck going back to those same people asking for more cash after that disaster.
Republican strategists are openly questioning whether DeSantis has any shot at all.
"Anything is possible, but at this stage, it's highly unlikely because whoever Donald Trump endorses is going to be the nominee," GOP strategist Ford O'Connell told the Washington Examiner. "If Trump decides he's going to endorse somebody and he's going to do it early, there's no chance."⁴
DeSantis also lacks the one thing no amount of money or strategic positioning can buy: charisma.
"The problem with Ron DeSanctimonious is that he needs a personality transplant and those are not yet available," Trump said in May 2023.
That's still true today.
The Florida Governor will turn 47 in September and technically has time for a political comeback down the road.
But for 2028, his moment has passed before it even arrived.
DeSantis can keep deflecting questions about running for President all he wants.
The polls are answering the question for him.
¹ Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign, Wikipedia, accessed December 2025.
² Survey says: Ron DeSantis struggles in yet another 2028 GOP Presidential Primary poll, Florida Politics, May 3, 2025.
³ 'Not thinking about anything': Ron DeSantis talks 2028 plans, Florida Politics, November 19, 2025.
⁴ Ron DeSantis's political future: A president in waiting or a man who missed his shot, Washington Examiner, April 14, 2025.
