Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to make his first trip to Iowa on Friday, all but making his presidential campaign official as he inches closer to making an announcement.
DeSantis will hit the road to visit a number of key battleground states over the weekend, making two stops in the Hawkeye state before traveling to Nevada on Saturday. While in Iowa, the Florida governor is scheduled to meet with voters while also holding a handful of private meetings with party leaders.
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The trip to Iowa marks a significant step toward making his presidential ambitions clear as DeSantis joins a growing number of GOP candidates in visiting the GOP’s first nominating state. Republican candidate Nikki Haley is set to visit the state on Friday and former President Donald Trump is also scheduled to hold his first Iowa event on Monday.
Despite announcing his third presidential bid nearly four months ago, Trump has yet to make a trip to Iowa, which is considered to be a crucial nominating state given the first caucuses of the primary cycle are held there. Now, he’s looking to court top party leaders in the state to endorse his bid.
"President Trump is twisting arms and looking for endorsements, but many of us are keeping our powder dry for now," a top Republican official in Iowa told CNN.
DeSantis’s trip on Friday also marks a shift in strategy for the Florida governor, who up until this point has typically refrained from visiting key presidential states until he announced his candidacy. That announcement isn’t expected to come until early summer.
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However, the trip signals to GOP donors and party leaders that DeSantis is gearing up for a fight — one that places him as the greatest threat to Trump’s campaign. Only Trump, Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have announced their White House bids, but several others are expected to follow in the coming months.
DeSantis has not yet publicly indicated whether he intends to run for president, but the Florida governor has reportedly told close allies in private that he intends to make an announcement in either May or June.