Ron DeSantis enters the Republican presidential race - and attacks Germany in the process. Donald Trump makes fun of him. The news ticker.
- Breakdown at the start of the election campaign: Ron DeSantis challenges Donald Trump
- Presidential candidate: DeSantis submits application for the Republican nomination
- Who will be the Republican nominee? All the news from the USA in our news ticker.
Update from May 25, 16:33 p.m.: A major lawmaker in Florida stated that Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis may be struggling over next year's election campaign due to his controversial dispute with The Walt Disney Company. This has now been reported by the American news portal Newsweek.
At that time, the governor of the Sunshine State dissolved the "Reedy Creek" district, which was self-governing by Disney. The company opposed DeSantis' so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which was designed to restrict conversations about LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom.
Donald Trump on April 14, 2023 during the NRA convention at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. © IMAGO/Luke Johnson
Duel between Trump and Deantis: When the "primaries" start in the USA
Update from May 25, 13:55 p.m.: However, the duel between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump will not be exciting until 2024. That's when the primaries, known as "primaries" in the USA, start. From March and until June 2024, it will be decided who the Republicans will send into the race against incumbent Joe Biden.
Update from May 25, 12:50 p.m.: Donald Trump railed against his latest rival in the race for the 2024 presidency, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, on Truth Social on Wednesday night. The former president began in the afternoon with a long sequence of hearty remarks directed against his former ally.
Trump posted screenshots of polls showing he is clearly in the lead in the Republican presidential nomination before attacking "Rob" with a cheeky posting that he will soon face a barrage of criticism and investigation.
"Hopefully he will have the full experience of being attacked by the Marxists, communists and radical left-wing maniacs of our country, without whom he will never know what kind of job he is doing," the 76-year-old wrote.
The moment when DeSantis appeared alongside Elon Musk and suffered a series of technical glitches during the Twitter space chat seemed to please Trump the most.
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Trump on DeSantis: "His whole campaign will be a disaster"
"Rob, my red button is bigger, better, stronger, and works (TRUTH!), yours doesn't!" He continued: "Wow! The TWITTER launch of DeSanctus is a DISASTER! His whole election campaign will be a disaster. Look!" said the ex-president, who was noticeably agitated.
He also posted a series of videos criticizing DeSantis. In one, he compared the launch of Trump's presidential campaign to that of DeSantis' Twitter Space, pointing to the technical issues of the social media site that caused the speech to be delayed by more than 20 minutes. Another showed a rocket that failed at launch and crashed to the ground, with Trump commenting "Ron!24."
Andi Scheuer congratulates DeSantis
Update from May 25, 09:45 a.m.: Preserving the traditional family, cracking down on migration and protecting against the "left-wing woke agenda": these are the policies that Ron DeSantis has on offer as a presidential candidate. However, little is known about what a President DeSantis could mean for US foreign policy and allies such as Germany. DeSantis also did not comment on the launch of his campaign on Twitter. That changed during his subsequent detour to the TV channel Fox News. "We want energy independence," said the Republican, referring at one point directly to politics in Berlin. "We don't want to end up like Germany. They don't have a decent electricity supply there and energy prices are climbing."
This is likely to be music to the ears of Andreas Scheuer, who met with DeSantis in Florida at the beginning of May together with other politicians of the CSU. "I share DeSantis' analysis. This may shock some. But I stand by that," Scheuer told t-online at the time. The meeting of the CSU politicians with Ron DeSantis caused sharp criticism.
Trump makes fun of DeSantis
Update from May 25, 08:40 a.m.: It was no longer a surprise. But now Ron DeSantis has also publicly created facts. The governor of Florida wants to lead the Republicans into the 2024 US presidential election. In polls, however, he has recently lagged further behind Donald Trump. He took the opportunity to refer to it with relish on Truth Social. "This survey has just been published. WOW!" wrote Trump, who is 56 points ahead of DeSantis. He now wants to start the race to catch up. According to NBC, he wants to start a tour of states that are particularly important for the primaries next week.
The landslide victory for the Republican Party in the midterms failed to materialize. However, there is one winner: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. © Giorgio Viera/afp
Breakdown at the start of the election campaign: DeSantis challenges Trump
Update from May 25, 4:00 a.m.: At the beginning of his election campaign for the 2024 presidential candidacy, US Republican Ron DeSantis was confronted with a technical problem. Originally, he planned to talk to Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, in a live conference ("Spaces") about his ambitions for the White House. However, there were on Wednesday evening (local time) again and again violent sound problems.
At first, presenter David Sacks could be heard, but there were always dropouts in the sound. After about 20 minutes, the recording was abruptly stopped and displayed as "finished". A few minutes later, the event was restarted and DeSantis began his speech. Shortly before, the Republican had posted a video on Twitter in which he officially announced his candidacy for the presidential election in 2024.
The technical problems immediately led to amused comments. For example, President Joe Biden posted a tweet with the comment "This link works" - and a link to a campaign fundraising page for him.
"We just have a massive number of people online, so the servers are a bit overloaded," Musk said apologetically. Later, the transfer worked. DeSantis said with regard to his candidacy: "We have to end the loser culture that has infected the Republican Party in recent years."
This is likely to be a swipe at Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden, and whom many Republicans also blame for the party's disappointing performance in last November's congressional midterm elections.
In his first propaganda video, DeSantis said, "We need the courage to lead and the strength to gain." He later wrote on Twitter, "I'm running for president to lead our great American comeback."
Trump takes aim at DeSantis
Donald Trump has attacked what is probably his most dangerous intra-party competitor with sharp words. "Instead of being grateful, DeSantis is now attacking the very man who saved his career," reads one of two videos posted by Trump on the online platform he co-founded, Truth Social.
There is only one who can make America great again, the video says – and the hot Donald Trump. During his time in the White House, he had already been able to prove this.
It's official: DeSantis is running against Trump
Update from May 24, 21:07 p.m.: Now it's official: The prominent US Republican Ron DeSantis wants to become president of the United States. The governor of the state of Florida filed the necessary documents with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday. The Washington Postreported on this first, citing a spokeswoman for the 44-year-old.
U.S. election: DeSantis challenges Trump - and wants to become the next U.S. president
DeSantis is considered a conservative hardliner. Along with former President Donald Trump, he is credited with the greatest chances in the race for the Republican candidacy. Trump had already announced in November that he would enter the presidential race for the 2024 election and compete against incumbent President Joe Biden. The fact that DeSantis has now thrown his hat into the ring had already been expected. The submission of the documents took place just a few hours before an expected announcement in a conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk - of all things, on the platform that Trump once used so excessively.
DeSantis wants to become US president with Elon Musk's help - wife publishes video
Update from May 24, 14:10 p.m.: Ron DeSantis is very likely to enter the race for the US presidency in the evening. His wifeCasey published a video in advance that alludes to the upcoming announcement. With the pathos of a Hollywood film, the politician steps backstage, while a voice says to the cheers of an invisible audience: "They call it faith, because in the face of darkness you can see a better future. A belief that our best days are ahead of us." In the video, DeSantis takes another breath and resolutely walks towards a curtain. When he opens it and apparently enters the stage, the video ends.
DeSantis' candidacy as U.S. president probably makes Trump nervous
Update from May 24, 10:20 a.m.: The possible candidacy of Ron DeSantis already seems to be making Donald Trump nervous. The former president of the United States responded shortly after the reports about the Florida governor with a post on Truth Social, Trump's own social media platform. There, Donald shared an article by conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root, addressed to Ron DeSantis, headlined, "Please resign!"
Ron DeSantis announces candidacy for U.S. president
First reported on May 24, 2023: Washington, D.C. -- The announcement had been long-awaited. At least since his triumphant re-election in the congressional midterm elections in November, he was considered the coming man of the Republicans. On Wednesday (24 May), Florida's conservative Governor Ron DeSantis will officially announce his bid for the 2024 US presidential election, openly challenging former President Donald Trump.
This in itself is not surprising. However, the way DeSantis entered the race is rather unusual. According to US media reports, the 44-year-old wants to announce his application on Twitter. In a conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk broadcast there, DeSantis wants to officially announce his plans. The talk is scheduled for 18:00 p.m. local time (midnight CEST) on Twitter Spaces, where audiences can follow live audio conversations.
DeSantis will announce candidacy in conversation with Musk on Twitter
Musk confirmed to the Wall Street Journal in an interview that he would question DeSantis. And he proudly added, "He has quite an announcement to make." The conversation will not follow a script, but will be spontaneous. "It will be the first time something like this has happened on social media and with questions and answers in real time, not prepared," the Twitter boss added.
At the same time, Musk emphasized that he does not currently support a particular candidate. On the other hand, he made it clear with a targeted remark that he would probably not like to see Trump in office. When asked who he prefers for the 2024 election, Musk said he and most people in the U.S. want someone in office who is "reasonably normal" - which can be understood as a spike against Donald Trump. In any case, the former president can hardly be assigned to this category.
DeSantis pursues an extreme right-wing policy in Florida
On the other hand, the policy that DeSantis pursues in Florida cannot be measured by normal standards either. The arch-conservative Republican is pursuing a staunchly right-wing course in Florida and presents himself as a fighter against a supposed "woke" ideology of the left. Some of the laws he has pushed are so extreme that a U.S. civil rights organization has now issued a travel warning for Florida. Meanwhile, an expert on fascism warns that DeSantis will "destroy our democracy."
Trump had already announced in November that he would enter the race for the presidential candidacy for the 2024 election. DeSantis has been governor of the southern US state of Florida since the beginning of 2019. Before the father of three made a career as a politician, he attended the elite universities Yale and Harvard, was in the Navy - and in Iraq in service. Prior to his election as governor, DeSantis served for several years as a member of the House of Representatives.
DeSantis clearly behind Trump in polls
After his re-election as governor, DeSantis was even ahead of Donald Trump in some polls, but is now clearly behind again. The gap to the right-wing populist is on average more than 30 percentage points. However, the official candidacy should give him new impetus.
Republicans will choose their candidate for the November 2024 presidential election in primaries that begin early next year. In addition to Donald Trump, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, the African-American Senator Tim Scott and the former governor of the southern state of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, also want to compete in the intra-party primaries. Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence is also considering a candidacy. Now Ron DeSantis joins them. (with agencies)
