Trump Campaign Reacts to DeSantis Departure

FILE - This combination of photos shows Republican presidential candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking at the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) Summit 2023 on July 17, 2023, in Arlington, Va., left, and former President Donald Trump speaking at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., June 13, 2023, right. AP Photo, File

Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign reacted to the news of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s departure from the 2024 race in an email sent out to supporters.

Mr. DeSantis, after failing to achieve the upset he hoped for in Iowa, on Jan. 21 announced in a post on X that he was leaving the race and endorsing President Trump for the GOP nomination over former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who remains in the race.

“With only a few days left until President Donald J. Trump’s victory in New Hampshire, we are honored by the endorsement from Governor Ron DeSantis and so many other former presidential candidates,” the emailed statement read.

The campaign repeated calls from the former president and others for the GOP to come together behind President Trump and focus their attention on defeating President Joe Biden.

“It is now time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump to defeat Crooked Joe Biden and end his disastrous presidency.”

The campaign also continued President Trump’s posturing against Ms. Haley, the only notable challenger still in the race.

The statement dismissed Ms. Haley as “the candidate of the globalists and Democrats, who will do everything to stop the America First movement,” adding that “she represents the views of Democrats more than the views of Republicans.

“It’s time to choose wisely.”

Mr. DeSantis’s decision to drop out comes after a disappointing performance in Iowa left him with no clear path to the Republican nomination.

In that contest, President Trump won a resounding, record-shattering victory, winning over half of Iowans’ support with 51 percent of the vote.

Mr. DeSantis came in a distant second, receiving roughly 21 percent of the vote.

Ms. Haley came in third with around 19 percent support.

Many of Mr. DeSantis’s top Florida backers immediately followed suit in endorsing President Trump. They included Florida’s chief financial officer (CFO) and the speaker of the Florida House.

“There has never been a more corrupt, more inept Administration than the Biden Crime family,” Florida’s CFO, Jimmy Patronis, said on X , formerly Twitter. “The swamp is deep and there is only one man who can return this country to its greatness and dismantle this atrocity the elites have built: VOTE DONALD TRUMP.”

“There is no greater governor in America than Ron DeSantis. I am proud to have fought alongside him to achieve major policy victories, and I look forward to his continued leadership for our great state of Florida and our country,” Speaker Paul Renner wrote on X.”It is time for us to unite and support Donald J. Trump as our nominee for President of the United States.”

Just minutes after Mr. DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) also praised his state executive’s decision.

“Welcome Home, Ron! It’s great to have America’s Governor back onside,” he wrote, adding in another post, “We’re getting the band back together!”

“I guess we figured out we wanted Trump instead of Diet Trump,” he said, drawing laughter from an enthusiastic crowd at a restaurant in Keene, New Hampshire.

President Trump also received another high-profile endorsement from House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.), who had previously endorsed Mr. DeSantis. 

“It is my privilege to provide my complete and total endorsement for Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States. President Trump was the greatest President of my lifetime, and we need him to reinstate the policies that were working so well for America,” Good wrote in a post on X. 

In another gesture of goodwill to his erstwhile adversary, President Trump announced during a campaign stop in New Hampshire that he was officially retiring his nickname for the Florida Republican, Ron DeSanctimonious. 

The Florida chief executive’s decision to drop out comes just days before the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary, where President Trump hopes to solidify his place as the Republican frontrunner.

Samantha Flom, T.J. Muscaro, and Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.