Donald Trump’s lawyer warned Gov. Ron DeSantis to stay in his lane in Florida as the former president teased a “big announcement” next Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
“He needs to stay in Florida. Just stay where you are. You are doing a great job in Florida,” Alina Habba said in an interview on Right Side Broadcasting at Trump’s rally in Ohio Monday night for Republican Senate candidate JD Vance.
Addressing the Florida governor’s political ambitions beyond the Sunshine State, Habba advised: “Don’t jump the gun.”
The attorney then insisted Trump made DeSantis.
“DeSantis is DeSantis because of Trump. I think I like what DeSantis is doing in Florida, but he needs to stay in Florida,” Habba said, doubling down on her advice.
“He’s not ready yet,” she added.
Trump, speaking at the rally on the eve of the midterm elections, told the crowd that he will make a “very big announcement” at his Florida resort on Tuesday.
“I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Mar-a-Lago, Florida,” Trump said at the event outside Dayton.
“We want nothing to detract from the importance of tomorrow.”
Before the rally, Trump insiders had been anticipating that the former president might use the occasion to formally announce he was running again in 2024.
As Trump gears up for another White House bid, DeSantis has emerged as his most formidable opponent.
In an apparent sign that Trump believes DeSantis will challenge him for the Republican nomination in two years, the former president coined a nickname for the governor, “Ron DeSanctimonious,” while speaking in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Trump has long employed monikers against his opponents, referring to Sen. Ted Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted” and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as “Low Energy Jeb” during the 2016 Republican primaries.
However, a day after getting some blowback from conservatives about the DeSantis quip, Trump urged his supporters to re-elect the governor during a get-out-the-vote event for Sen. Marco Rubio in Miami.
“You’re going to re-elect the wonderful, the great friend of mine, Marco Rubio to the United States Senate and you are going to re-elect Ron DeSantis as your governor,” Trump told the crowd.
