The days leading up to DeSantis' decision to quit

After his primary defeat in Iowa, Mr. DeSantis spent a week discussing with his advisers before deciding to stop the race for the White House.

The Iowa caucuses on January 15 were a huge disappointment for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He finished second with 21.2% of the vote, far behind former President Donald Trump, who received more than 51%. The result set off a week of tense consultations between DeSantis and his aides about the future of his campaign.

Mr. DeSantis, 45, had previously hoped to continue competing with Mr. Trump and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the first primaries, aiming to gain momentum for the sprint to conquer his ambition to become U.S. president. He is considered a "rising star" of the Republican Party and is expected by many donors to be an alternative to Trump.

DeSantis was once considered Trump's real rival in the race for the Republican nomination. Trump attacked DeSantis before he officially entered the race for the White House in May 2023. The former president even nicknamed his opponent "DeSanctimonious," an action that DeSantis criticized as "childish."

However, in the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses on January 15, DeSantis began to lose steam, losing ground to Haley in national polls. DeSantis’s support gradually declined, while Trump continued to consolidate his lead despite a series of legal scandals.

DeSantis and his team began to change their targets. They had declared he would win Iowa, but then settled for second place, avoiding an embarrassing third place finish.

But they face the reality that their campaign’s finances are dwindling. The campaign and its super PACs cannot raise enough money to offset the tens of millions of dollars spent on a futile campaign effort in Iowa.

DeSantis wants to learn what happened in Iowa and determine his prospects for the upcoming primaries in New Hampshire on January 23 and then South Carolina on February 24. South Carolina is where advisers believe DeSantis has an opportunity to gain momentum in the coming months.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks in Atlantic, Iowa on January 15. Photo: AFP

The Florida governor repeatedly questioned his advisers about his defeat in Iowa while continuing to campaign in the next few states. Over the next few days, he traveled to South Carolina and New Hampshire, but made no visible changes.

The Florida governor is third in New Hampshire polls, behind Mr Trump and Ms Haley, while prospects in South Carolina are also bleak.

By January 18, the “information gap had been closed,” sources familiar with the matter said. But Mr. DeSantis still wanted to meet with voters again, so he decided to travel to New Hampshire and South Carolina to get a final look at the situation.

After campaigning in South Carolina, he summoned some of his closest advisers to the governor's mansion in Tallahassee, Florida, on the morning of January 21 for a final discussion about the future of the campaign.

Texas Rep. Chip Roy, one of DeSantis’s most prominent supporters, traveled to Tallahassee for the final round of discussions, according to people familiar with the matter. Roy is helping the Florida governor weigh his decision to drop out of the race before the New Hampshire primary, as well as weigh the pros and cons of backing Mr. Trump.

Senator Roy said on Friday night that he had “constantly spoken to the governor of Florida” throughout the campaign and thought “he did the right thing” by ending the race and backing Mr. Trump. Mr. Roy declined to elaborate on the content of his conversations with DeSantis.

After a discussion with his advisers, DeSantis and his wife, Casey, went upstairs to talk privately. They decided that DeSantis would suspend his campaign because there was no longer a suitable path for him to continue. When he returned to his group of advisers, DeSantis had already written out a bullet point for his announcement to leave the race for the White House.

The decision to suspend his candidacy was kept secret by his close advisers. His campaign manager, donor Dan Eberhart, only learned of it while en route to New Hampshire, and several other aides and super PACs were not informed. But it was not a surprise to them.

"I'm not shocked at all. I think he would be a great president, but not the best candidate," Eberhart said.

Mr. DeSantis and his advisers did not discuss the matter with Mr. Trump's team before making the announcement, a senior adviser to the former president said.

Hours before the announcement, Mr. DeSantis canceled his plans to appear on television shows on January 21, a move that left allies and opponents somewhat guessing the Florida Governor's intentions.

“People want to stay until South Carolina, but it’s getting harder to raise money,” said a DeSantis adviser. He later announced his suspension of his campaign in a post on social media.

"After finishing second in the Iowa caucuses, we've been considering the path forward. If there's anything I can do to improve the outcome or force more of my opponents to drop out, I'll do it. However, I can't ask my supporters to invest their time and money if we're not sure we'll win. So today I've decided to suspend my campaign," he wrote.

Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Rochester, New Hampshire on January 21. Photo: AFP

"They have big political differences, but Mr. DeSantis shares Mr. Trump's views on many issues, except for Covid-19 policy," said an adviser to the Florida Governor.

Mr. DeSantis has criticized Mr. Trump for enacting federal social distancing and mask-wearing rules and promoting vaccinations to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. But his inner circle agrees that supporting Mr. Trump is the right move, three people familiar with the matter said.

Many of DeSantis' allies believe the Florida governor will run in 2028, hoping that no one will be able to stand in his way. Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter said DeSantis is spending time with his family in Florida.

Mr. DeSantis has no intention of running as Mr. Trump’s vice president, the person said. After the decision, Ms. Halley is Mr. Trump’s only rival in the Republican presidential race.

Nhu Tam (According to NBC News, Reuters )

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