CNN –
A Miami rally announced by former President Donald Trump on Wednesday will feature a prominent presence from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, but will notably not include Gov. Ron DeSantis, even though he is currently running for re-election in the state.
The rally comes as the relationship between Trump and DeSantis, once allies, has drifted apart ahead of a potential 2024 presidential showdown.
As Trump has shifted his focus to his own political future, two people who spoke with him recently told CNN that the former president has complained about the Florida governor and indicated he was ungrateful to Trump, who he believes is responsible for DeSantis’ success in 2018. .
Trump is also upset that DeSantis didn’t say he wouldn’t run in 2024 if the former president entered the race, a source said. In a debate Monday, DeSantis refused to commit to serving four years as governor.
While Trump’s team said it did not inform DeSantis of the Nov. 6 rally ahead of time, a source close to Trump rejected the notion that the event in the governor’s backyard was a snub and said it was the result of a conversation with Rubio. .
DeSantis is believed to be Trump’s most formidable opponent if both run for president in 2024.
As CNN previously reported, Trump, who has made recent campaign stops in Nevada, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, is accelerating his plans for another presidential run, fueled by the belief that Republicans are poised to ‘make significant gains in next month’s midterm elections and that many of their chosen candidates will prevail.
Behind the scenes, he has spent the final weeks of the 2022 cycle preparing his political operation for another presidential campaign, including assembling his campaign leadership, crafting plans for his remaining midterm rallies and seeking a spot from from where to launch his supposed political comeback. . His lawyers have also been seeking solutions to some of his legal problems, most notably the Justice Department’s investigation into government records he kept after leaving office, to free up time for him to focus on his political future.
The Florida governor, meanwhile, currently has a comfortable lead in the gubernatorial race against Democrat Charlie Crist and has nearly $100 million left in the bank before Election Day.