Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis rule out being US election running mates as their bickering continues

A Donald Trump/Ron DeSantis ticket is definitely not on the cards in November’s US election, with both camps seemingly insistent that they won’t be running mates. 

With Trump almost certain to win the Republican Party’s nomination for the White House, there has been a lot of speculation about his running mate – and potential vice-president.

His relationship with Mike Pence, who served as vice-president under Trump between 2017 and 2021, broke down after the attacks on the Capitol in 2021, ruling him out as his running mate for a second time. 

DeSantis’ name has been mentioned amid the speculation about who Trump would pick, but the Florida governor shut down the rumours in a recent conversation with about 200 supporters, audio of which was obtained by ABC News and NBC News. 

When asked who he’d like to see run with Trump, DeSantis reportedly acknowledged hearing that “people were mentioning” his name but he emphatically stated: “I’m not doing that.”

Having dropped out of the fairly acrimonious presidential race last month, DeSantis told supporters that Trump shouldn’t play “identity politics” when looking for a vice-president.

Meanwhile, during a Fox News town hall event in South Carolina, host Laura Ingraham asked Trump about a host of possible choices. The list included DeSantis and fellow former presidential hopefuls entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina senator Tim Scott, as well as the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem. 

Trump confirmed the names appeared on his shortlist, adding “all of those people are good [and] solid”. 

However, after DeSantis’ latest remarks, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt fired back at the governor, saying he “failed miserably in his presidential campaign”, adding that he didn’t “have a voice in selecting the next vice-president of the United States”. 

Then, a Trump adviser dubbed DeSantis a “sad little man” over his speculation of who would be the former president’s new running mate. 

The two rivals started off as allies with Trump saying he was “considering” the anti-LGBTQ+ governor, whom he described as his friend, as a potential vice-president in 2021.  But their working relationship took a bitter turn before the 2022 midterm elections when Trump revealed his new nickname for the Florida politician: Ron DeSanctimonious.

It’s clear now that DeSantis doesn’t want to join Trump’s latest White House bid and he has repeatedly denied any interest in being the vice-president.