Former President Donald Trump is reportedly mad at Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for emulating his alleged idea to relocate migrants to Democrat-led cities.
The former president reportedly told close allies that DeSantis is attempting to take the media spotlight away from him, sources told Rolling Stone. Trump reportedly accused the governor of trying to ramp up support for the 2024 presidential race and has fumed over the public praise he’s received among Republicans and conservatives.
DeSantis sent two planes of 50 migrants who volunteered to board a plane Thursday to the upper-class Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts in an attempt to relocate migrants to liberal enclaves. Trump reportedly told his allies in private that the relocation of migrants was originally his idea.
Trump has not recently commented on the migrants in Martha’s Vineyard, though he has been outspoken on the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border and the surging influx of migrants.
EXCLUSIVE: Sources say Trump is outraged that Ron DeSantis is stealing his “idea[s].”
The former president’s rage comes after the governor flew a group of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard this past week. https://t.co/uOC6s8izDR
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) September 19, 2022
Trump and DeSantis have stood neck-and-neck in several polls reporting Republican voters’ preferences for the 2024 presidential nominee. The former president and his team even shared a statement in early September citing a Business Insider article titled, “Mar-a-Lago raid gave Trump a 10-point boost over DeSantis with Republican primary voters, poll shows.” (RELATED: Reporter Tells MSNBC That Migrants Are ‘Thanking’ Gov. DeSantis For Sending Them To Martha’s Vineyard)
In a June poll, DeSantis held a slight lead over Trump among likely Republican New Hampshire voters. The Florida governor garnered 39% to Trump’s 37%. The poll surveyed 318 likely GOP primary voters from June 16-20 with a 5.5% margin of error.
A poll released in July found Trump leading DeSantis in Michigan, a swing state. Trump attained 45.2% favorability amongst voters to DeSantis’ 41.6%. The Glengariff Group Inc. surveyed 500 likely Republican primary voters by telephone between July 13-15 with a 4.4% margin of error.
Trump has repeatedly hinted at a reelection run in 2024, consistently saying people are going to be “very, very happy” with his future plans. He also predicted he would win against DeSantis in a potential primary race during a June 20 interview with The New Yorker.
“I don’t know if Ron is running, and I don’t ask him,” Trump told The New Yorker. “It’s his prerogative. I think I would win.”