Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be preparing for a 2024 presidential run, which would put him in a challenge against former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. And Trump, who has already started campaigning for a return to the White House, isn’t too happy.

Although DeSantis has not officially announced a run, Trump blasted the fellow Republican and former ally. During Trump’s first two-state campaign swing of his new presidential bid on Jan. 28, he called out DeSantis.

Trump stumped in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Trump let it be known he felt betrayed by DeSantis, suggesting that DeSantis was owed him for having helped him capture the GOP nomination for governor in 2018, CBS News reported. 

“So then when I hear he might run, I consider that very disloyal. But it’s not about loyalty — but to me it is, it’s always about loyalty — but for a lot of people it’s not about loyalty,” Trump told reporters.

Trump might be worried about coming up against DeSantis, who has developed a solid following using Trump-style posturing such as attacking “far left-woke agenda” in schools and businesses.

A recently released University of New Hampshire poll of the first-in-the-nation primary state had DeSantis leading Trump 42 percent to 30 percent among likely GOP voters in New Hampshire. In December 2022, a CNN/SSRS poll found that about 6 in 10 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents wanted the GOP to nominate someone other than Trump in 2024.

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Advisers to the Florida governor are prepping him for a presidential run, two Republicans with knowledge of the issue told The Washington Post.

DeSantis’s political team has been looking into staffing in early primary states such as New Hampshire and Iowa, according to one of the Republicans. 

DeSantis has already branded himself as “an enemy” of the “woke” left and has been working with the Republican-led Florida legislature to restrict school discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity, The Washington Post reported. DeSantis recently banned an Advanced Placement high school course on African American studies.

There are many Republicans inching toward entering the 2024 presidential race, such as Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence and Republican governors other than DeSantis.

Governor Ron DeSantis gestures during a news conference where he spoke of new law enforcement legislation that will be introduced during the upcoming session, Jan. 26, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)