Ron DeSantis talks 2028 plans

The White House will be up for grabs in three years, but former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says he’s not looking at running.

“I’m not thinking about anything because I think we have a President now who’s not even been in for a year. We’ve got a lot that we’ve got to accomplish,” the term-limited Governor told Jake Tapper when asked about 2028.

Noting that off-year elections didn’t go well for Republicans this month, DeSantis included a veiled barb for would-be rivals like Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (who, like DeSantis, has worked with consultant Jeff Roe in the past).

“The way you do well in the Midterm Elections is to produce positive results, and so I would focus on that. This jockeying and all that, I don’t think it’s productive for us,” DeSantis said.

It may be for the best that DeSantis isn’t actively running, given some recent polls.

DeSantis, who ran in 2024 before withdrawing after failing to win a single county in the Iowa caucuses, has just 2% support in the latest survey from Emerson College.

Recent polling from the University of New Hampshire says he’ll struggle again in what is historically the first-in-the-nation Primary state. The “Granite State Poll,” his worst showing in any state poll so far, shows the Florida Governor with 3% support overall.

This puts DeSantis behind Vance (51%), former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley (9%), National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard (8%), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (5%), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (4%), and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky (4%).

In January 2024, DeSantis had different messaging after leaving the GOP Primary race.

“When I was in Iowa, a lot of these folks that stuck with the President were very supportive of what I’ve done in Florida. They thought I was a good candidate,” DeSantis said. “I even had people say they think that I would even do better as President, but they felt that they owed (Donald) Trump another shot. And so I think we really made a strong impression.”

“Most of the people that supported me, whether activists, whether volunteers, whether fundraisers, you know, they’re all on board, you know, for what the future holds. So we’ll be active,” DeSantis promised.

While he did an interview this week with former supporter and Iowa influential Bob Vanderplaats, suggesting he’s dipping his toe in the water again, it sounds like DeSantis wants to be seen as above the fray for now.