Will DeSantis Actually run for President in 2024?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's whirlwind international trade mission trip to Japan, S. Korea, the United Kingdom, and Israel, during the last weeks of the 2023 legislative session in Florida could be a signal that he is on the verge of announcing a 2024 presidential run for office, or is it?

Gov. DeSantis has been signaling that he will be announcing his presidential candidacy shortly after the legislative session concludes, and now that the Republican-led legislation has passed a “Resign to Run” measure designed specifically to allow DeSantis to run for president and not be forced to resign this governorship, it appears as if all the necessary boxes to against former President Donald Trump have been checked off.

But will DeSantis run?

According to his political committee “Friends of Ron DeSantis,” the weekly DeSantis “Mic Drop Moment” is a video clip of the Governor stating, “A leader is going to put the interests of the people he represents above his own political interest.”

DeSantis has touted his leadership throughout his first term in office, but his statement rings very loud considering that Floridians reelected him to a second term last November, and now he strongly considering entering the Republican presidential primary race.

Again, DeSantis stated:

“A leader is going to put the interests of the people he represents above his own political interest.”

It's important to give context to the statement.

DeSantis has speaking at a recent “Florida Blueprint” event where he was referring to the decisions he made to reopen Florida and save the state economy during the Covid-19 pandemic when every disapproved of his leadership.

Will his potential political opponents, namely President Donald Trump, use DeSantis's statement about a leader putting the interests of his constituents above personal political expediency against him?

DeSantis is currently outpacing (crushing) President Trump in fundraising, but all of the latest public opinion polls show Trump leading DeSantis by more than 20 percentage points.