- Trump dismissed rumors about tensions between him and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
- "I get along very well with Ron DeSantis," Trump said in a podcast interview on Wednesday.
- "McConnell is another story," the former president added.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday again dismissed rumored tensions between him and fellow Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"I get along very well with Ron DeSantis. I endorsed him … and he shot up like a rocket immediately the following day," Trump said in a podcast interview with conservative commentator Lou Dobbs, referencing his support for DeSantis when he was running for governor in 2018.
The pair have been close allies over the years, but recent reports suggest cracks in their relationship as both Trump and DeSantis are widely considered likely candidates for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. During private conversations with advisors about 2024, Trump has reportedly badmouthed DeSantis. Sources close to the former president say that he questions why DeSantis hasn't yet said that he won't run against Trump.
Trump also appeared to take a swipe recently at DeSantis for declining to say whether or not he's gotten a COVID-19 booster. Trump, who's recently advocated for COVID-19 boosters, criticized "gutless" politicians who refuse to reveal their booster status, but did not mention DeSantis by name.
DeSantis and Trump, blaming the "media" and "fake news," have denied any feuding between the two.
NBC News reported last week that some of Trump's aides have pointed to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as being behind the reports of rifts between Trump and DeSantis. McConnell has not commented publicly on the matter, and one of his advisors told NBC that he wouldn't respond to "background sniping."
"We've heard so many reports about McConnell being the source of the attempted friction between you and Governor DeSantis in Florida. Is it your sense that he was the instigator of that nonsense?" Dobbs asked Trump.
"I get along very well with [DeSantis]. McConnell is another story. Look, I endorsed him, he only won reelection because of me too," Trump said, referring to McConnell's 2020 win against Democrat Amy McGrath in Kentucky.
"If I didn't endorse him, he would've lost," Trump added. "If I don't endorse Mitch McConnell, he loses."
Trump and McConnell worked alongside each other throughout the former president's term to fulfill GOP priorities, including passing the 2017 $1.5 trillion tax overhaul and confirming a wave of federal judges and three Supreme Court justices.
Their relationship turned sour toward the end of Trump's presidency, when Trump refused to admit his 2020 election defeat and McConnell acknowledged then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden as the winner.
McConnell condemned Trump in the wake of the Capitol riot on January 6, but has largely avoided publicly commenting about Trump since he left office. McConnell has sought to move the GOP's attention away from the former president and toward pushing back on the Biden administration and flipping party control in the upcoming midterm elections this year.
Trump has vowed to exact revenge on his GOP critics and has repeatedly criticized McConnell in the past year. But top Trump allies say the former president should tone down his rhetoric so the Republican party can present a united front going into the midterms.