Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis privately tells donors he plans to fundraise for Trump

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told donors and supporters at a private retreat last weekend that he plans to help raise money for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

DeSantis told his allies about the move to help Trump during a private gathering Saturday at South Florida’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, these people said.

“He did say it in front of a group of people at the Hard Rock,” a DeSantis adviser told NBC News.

The person emphasized that DeSantis had pledged to support Republicans up and down the ballot — “including presidential” — when he dropped his bid for president in January.

DeSantis’ remarks come after he was effectively in a political war with Trump, both before and since the governor dropped out of the presidential primary race. It remains unclear if Trump and his team want DeSantis to help them, or have him as an ally, even though the governor did endorse Trump in January.

Many of the bundlers who heard from DeSantis at the Hard Rock will likely follow his lead and start trying to raise money for the former president, according to a fundraiser who was at the event.

“I would say the majority in the room would now be willing to help Trump,” a DeSantis bundler who was at the recent meeting said.

Texas businessman Roy Bailey, who was a co-chair of DeSantis’ national finance advisory board, said in an interview Wednesday that he’s planning to help raise money for Trump, as he did in 2020.

“I will follow the governor’s lead and I will do anything that he or President Trump ask me to do to help him win this election,” Bailey said.

“I know where there are DeSantis supporters all over Texas and all over the country that will want to help President Trump. So that’s what I’ll try to make happen,” he added.

A Trump campaign adviser said they were not aware that DeSantis was going to start raising money from them but added that “everyone should be working towards defeating Joe Biden and electing President Trump.”

DeSantis’ donor retreat happened on the same day as Trump’s biggest fundraiser of the cycle, which his campaign said raised $50.5 million.

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