Donald Trump is reportedly contemplating the potential of changing his present nominee for protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the newest extraordinary twist of their rocky relationship.

Hegseth, a former Fox Information weekend anchor, has been hit by a harmful collection of allegations about his previous since he acquired the nod from the president-elect in November, accused of sexual harassment, alcoholism, Islamophobic slurs and the mismanagement of a army veterans’ organisation, all of which he has denied.

However with Republican senators expressing concern about his candidacy and his mom pressured to seem on Fox and Associates to attempt to clear his identify, it’s being reported that Trump may flip to DeSantis as a substitute.

The 2 males have been allies throughout the Republican’s first time period within the White Home, with Trump campaigning for DeSantis’s ascent to the governor’s mansion in 2018 and later taking credit score for his victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum, solely to then take in opposition to him as soon as his star rose throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and he turned a conservative favourite for difficult lockdown restrictions.

That pressure erupted into open hostility and bitter taunts when DeSantis ran in opposition to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination final 12 months, solely to crash out early within the primaries after failing to attach with voters.

Here’s a timeline of their on-again-off-again relationship.

17 November 2018

DeSantis is elected governor of Florida, defeating Democrat Andrew Gillum.

Mr Trump, who had campaigned for Mr DeSantis in particular person and on Twitter, loudly celebrated his victory as the newest demonstration of his personal energy and affect.

11 March 2020

After a comparatively quiet first 12 months within the governor’s mansion, Mr DeSantis faces a serious disaster when the Facilities for Illness Management (CDC) introduced Covid-19 was spreading quickly.

Whereas Mr Trump bungles the federal response to the disaster, making empty guarantees about reopening, brazenly speculating that injecting bleach may present a remedy and finally contracting the coronavirus himself one month earlier than Election Day, Mr DeSantis recognises opposition to masks and social restrictions as a tradition struggle flashpoint and makes use of the temper to his political benefit.

“We’re not shutting down, we’re gonna go ahead, we’re gonna proceed to guard probably the most susceptible,” he mentioned in a speech in June.

“Notably when you’ve gotten a virus that disproportionately impacts one section of society, to suppress plenty of working-age individuals at this level I don’t suppose would seemingly be very efficient.”

20 January 2021

Joe Biden succeeds Mr Trump as president, forcing the ex-president to depart DC two weeks after his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen ended with the Capitol riot.

Disgraced, discredited, twice-impeached and banned from social media, Mr Trump slinks off again to his Palm Seaside property, whereas the identical state’s governor continues to make a reputation for himself, capitalising on his pandemic reputation amongst Republicans by finally taking over LGBT+ rights and the may of the Walt Disney Company, cheered on by a motion on the lookout for a much less contaminated and compromised various to Mr Trump, who can solely look on with envy.

29 April 2021

Mr Trump tells Maria Baritromo on Fox Enterprise Community: “He’s a pal of mine. I endorsed Ron, and after I endorsed him, he took off like a rocket ship.”

On the suggestion that Mr DeSantis may make a very good successor to Mr Pence as a operating mate, Mr Trump solutions: “Lots of people like that – , I’m simply saying what I learn and what you learn – they love that ticket. However definitely, Ron could be thought of. He’s an ideal man.”

4 October 2021

Addressing the prospect of getting to sq. up in opposition to Mr DeSantis in a future election race, slightly than their becoming a member of forces, Mr Trump tells Yahoo! Finance he would beat the governor with ease.

“I don’t suppose I’ll face him. I feel most individuals would drop out, I feel he would drop out,” he says. “If I confronted him, I’d beat him like I might beat everybody else. If I do run, I feel that I’ll do extraordinarily effectively.”

For his half, Mr DeSantis tells Fox Information: “I’m not contemplating something past doing my job. We received plenty of stuff occurring in Florida.”

21 June 2022

More and more bothered by Mr DeSantis’ rise, Mr Trump begins to insist that the previous owes his success totally to his help.

On the prospect of the governor operating for the White Home, as mentioned at size in The New Yorker, its former occupant tells Newsmax: “I don’t know that he needs to run, , I’ve a very good relationship with Ron. However I used to be very chargeable for him getting elected, as … We’ll see what occurs.”

14 September 2022

Mr DeSantis engages in a distinctly Trumpian stunt by sending roughly 50 Venezuelan asylum seekers by air from San Antonio, Texas, to Crestview airport in Florida after which on to the island of Martha’s Winery in Massachusetts, a Democratic stronghold.

A chunk of provocative political theatre, Mr Trump gripes that he considered it first.

8 November 2022

The 2 males maintain competing rallies in Florida within the ultimate days earlier than the midterm elections, with Mr Trump debuting his prized “Ron DeSanctimonious” nickname at his occasion.

However the governor goes on to win re-election in commanding style, beating Democrat Charlie Crist by a virtually 20-point margin and drawing in beforehand untapped help from Latinos and suburban voters.

In contrast, Mr Trump’s most popular candidates lose races throughout the nation from Pennsylvania to Arizona because the broadly predicted “pink wave” fails to materialise.

11 November 2022

The fallout from the midterms actually units the rivalry simmering, with Mr Trump resorting to suggesting he had deployed the FBI to safe Mr DeSantis’ win over Mr Gillum in 2018.

Taking to Reality Social, Mr Trump calls his rival an “common Republican governor with nice public relations” who was “politically useless” till he helped flip his fortunes round.

He writes: “I used to be all in for Ron, and he beat Gillum, however after the Race, when votes have been being stolen by the corrupt Election course of in Broward County, and Ron was taking place ten thousand votes a day, together with now-Senator Rick Scott, I despatched within the FBI and the US attorneys, and the poll theft instantly ended, simply previous to them operating out of the votes essential to win. I finished his Election from being stolen…”

The submit, inevitably, invitations requires the matter to be investigated urgently.

16 November 2022

Mr Trump broadcasts his intention to run once more for the US presidency in a low-key televised handle from Mar-a-Lago that many really feel lacks the power of his earlier political speeches.

29 January 2023

Persevering with to obsessively re-litigate Mr DeSantis’s 2018 gubernatorial win as a way to bolster his personal function in it, Mr Trump accuses his rival of “making an attempt to rewrite historical past” over his document in responding to Covid, claiming he had “modified his tune rather a lot” on the introduction of vaccine mandates.

Talking to reporters whereas campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr Trump gripes: “Ron would haven’t been governor if it wasn’t for me. Once I hear that he may [run] I feel it’s very disloyal… There are Republican governors that didn’t shut their states. They’re making an attempt to rewrite historical past.”

8 February 2023

Clearly getting ready to get nasty, Mr Trump resorts to amplifying an unfounded smear about Mr DeSantis on Reality Social regarding his short-lived profession as a highschool trainer in Georgia as a youthful man.

18 February 2023

A brand new nickname, “Meatball Ron”, is reported to have been trialled by Mr Trump, nonetheless searching for a technique to trash-talk his seemingly opponent, as he had carried out so many occasions earlier than, however this time he unexpectedly denies it’s his coinage.

“I’ll by no means name Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, because the Faux Information is insisting I’ll,” he raves on Reality Social.

30 April 2023

Responding to Mr DeSantis setting out on a world tour, visiting the UK and Japan within the curiosity of wanting statesmanlike on the world stage, Mr Trump tries a brand new assault line, saying he “couldn’t care much less” if the governor runs in opposition to him.

“I couldn’t care much less if Ron DeSanctus [sic] runs, however the issue is the Invoice he’s about to signal, which permits him to run with out resigning from being Governor, completely weakens Election Integrity in Florida,” he posted.

16 Could 2023

Nonetheless trying to find that killer assault line, Mr Trump tells The Messenger his political opponent is a “rank beginner”.

“I feel the media has mentioned he’s doing a horrible job and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. You realize, the media has not been pleasant to him. They’re saying that he’s a rank beginner. And , he began off advantageous, however then he hasn’t carried out very effectively. You take a look at the polls.”

Returning to the disloyalty argument, Mr Trump manages to sound genuinely wounded as he complains: “He’s very disloyal. He was a useless man strolling. He was useless, useless as a doornail. And I revived him.

In the identical interview, he says Florida’s new six-week abortion ban was “too harsh” and prone to alienate voters.

Mr DeSantis responds by arguing: “Defending an unborn baby when there’s a detectable heartbeat is one thing that nearly 99 per cent of pro-lifers help. As a Florida resident, , he didn’t give a solution about, ‘Would you’ve gotten signed the heartbeat invoice that Florida did, that had all of the exceptions that individuals discuss?’”

Trump marketing campaign spokesman Steven Cheung got here again with: “Ron DeSantis is flailing within the polls and is nearer to the underside of the pack than he’s to President Trump, who’s dominating in each single ballot.”

24 Could 2023

Mr DeSantis lastly broadcasts his marketing campaign, initially with a 30-second teaser video posted to Twitter by his spouse Casey, Mr Trump makes an attempt to hijack his massive day by launching into an insult-packed tirade on Reality Social, once more calling his rival “disloyal”, declaring that he “desperately wants a persona transplant” and calling him “disciple of horrible RINO Paul Ryan”, the acronym quick for “Republican In Title Solely”.

Sounding extra unhinged than ever, Mr Trump thrashes out the next diatribe in full keyboard warrior mode: “Look, Rob DeSanctimonious got here to me asking for assist. He was shedding badly, by 31 factors, to common Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.”

“He was on the point of drop out of the race – Ran a horrible marketing campaign! Ron advised me he had one final probability, my Help & Endorsement, which Putnam, and everybody else, wished additionally. I gave it to Ron, and the race was over. In at some point, he went from shedding badly, to successful by rather a lot. With 3 LARGE TRUMP RALLIES, he WON THE GENERAL ELECTION in an upset. DISLOYAL!!!”

26 Could 2023

At the beginning of his official marketing campaign, Mr DeSantis criticises Mr Trump claiming he’s gentle on crime and immigration.

1 June 2023

In response to the myriad of nicknames Mr Trump has bestowed, Mr DeSantis opens as much as a New Hampshire radio station about what he actually thinks of Mr Trump’s assaults.

“I feel it’s so petty,” Mr DeSantis mentioned. “I feel it’s so juvenile.”

He added: “Actually, I feel that his conduct, which he’s been doing for years now, I feel that’s one of many causes he’s not within the White Home now.”

The Florida governor additionally factors out that Mr Trump’s assaults on his dealing with of Covid-19 are false.

“He’s saying governor Andrew Cuomo in New York dealt with Covid higher than Florida did underneath my management, and but individuals fled Cuomo’s lockdowns to return to Florida by the tens of hundreds, most likely lots of of hundreds,” Mr DeSantis mentioned.

21 June 2023

Mr Trump’s marketing campaign launches an assault advert attacking in opposition to Mr DeSantis claiming he shut down Florida throughout the early days of the pandemic.

“LOCKDOWN RON – FAILED FLORIDA!” The caption of the video reads.

29 June 2023

As Mr DeSantis begins to path behind Mr Trump within the polls, the ex-president takes the chance to declare Mr DeSantis’ marketing campaign “useless.”

“His polls are dropping like a rock heading to Hell,” Mr Trump wrote.

28 July 2023

On the Republican Lincoln Day dinner in Iowa, Mr Trump tells a crowd of individuals “to not take an opportunity” on Mr DeSantis who he repeatedly refers to as “DeSanctus”

7 August 2023

Mr DeSantis stomps on Mr Trump the place it hurts – election fraud claims.

Simply days after Mr Trump pleads not responsible to federal election interference prices, Mr DeSantis confirms Mr Trump misplaced within the 2020 election and Mr Biden is the president.

“In fact he misplaced,” Mr DeSantis mentioned to NBC Information.