Two years after dropping out of the Republican presidential primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has quietly rebuilt his ties with President Donald Trump, and he is not ruling out another run for the White House. In a Wall Street Journal interview, DeSantis said he still has eight months left in Tallahassee and wants to finish strong, but acknowledged his political future remains wide open.

"I'm asked, 'Would you ever run again?' I'm in my mid-40s, so I couldn't say I would never do it," DeSantis told the Journal.

The comment lands at a moment when Republican strategists are already gaming out the 2028 field. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the names drawing early attention. DeSantis clearly intends to be in that conversation, and the way he has handled his post-primary relationship with Trump tells you a lot about how he plans to get there.

From rival to fundraiser in a single phone call

The rapprochement began almost immediately after DeSantis left the race. On the day he suspended his campaign, DeSantis endorsed Trump outright. Breitbart reported that DeSantis framed Trump as preferable to both Nikki Haley and Joe Biden, saying, "It's clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance."

What happened next was less public but arguably more important. DeSantis and his advisers gathered in a hotel conference room at a Four Seasons in South Florida and began making fundraising calls for Trump's campaign. Trump called in personally. According to people in attendance, the president told DeSantis: "Ron, you should have hit me harder."

The line carried a whiff of magnanimity, and maybe a little competitive ribbing. DeSantis himself has since reflected on why he pulled his punches during the primary. "Hitting him kind of fell flat, and so it really wasn't something that made a lot of sense," DeSantis said. He added a personal note: "When I was a kid, he was in 'Home Alone,' right?"

The fundraising effort was no token gesture. Just The News reported that DeSantis and his Florida donor allies raised more than $3 million for Trump. During one fundraising call with roughly 30 donors, Trump told DeSantis, "Ron, I love that you're back."

Golf, phone calls, and a White House panel

The relationship has continued to deepen. Trump and DeSantis have golfed several times in the past year, according to people close to both men. Last month they played together at Trump's Doral golf club near Miami. They also talk on the phone regularly.

DeSantis now co-chairs a White House panel examining how to rein in the college sports payment system. He pushed for a transfer of prime land in downtown Miami for Trump's planned presidential library. And this week, he signed new congressional maps that could deliver the GOP up to four additional seats in November, a move that advances a Republican redistricting strategy designed to offset Democratic gains elsewhere.

"I want to help the country, and I want the president to do well, but I think we've been able to make a big impact in our job down here," DeSantis told the Journal.

Trump, for his part, has spoken positively about DeSantis in private. A couple of weeks ago, the president acknowledged to an associate that some allies do not regard DeSantis well, but conveyed that he personally likes DeSantis and that the governor has delivered for him in Florida.

That private assessment tracks with Trump's earlier public comments about potentially bringing DeSantis into his administration once the governor's term ends.

Not everyone in Trump's orbit is on board

The reconciliation has its skeptics, and some of them sit close to the president. Roger Stone, the longtime Trump confidant, recently visited the White House to argue that DeSantis is untrustworthy. "You've got to make sure that door is nailed shut," Stone said, referring to DeSantis's path to any administration role.

Friction also lingers with Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles. That carries a particular irony: Wiles, a veteran Florida political operative, was instrumental in rescuing DeSantis's struggling 2018 gubernatorial campaign. DeSantis's first run for governor took off only after he secured Trump's endorsement that year, and Wiles helped make the mechanics work. The relationship has since soured.

When Kristi Noem was fired as Homeland Security secretary in March, some Trump allies moved quickly to install Sen. Markwayne Mullin as her replacement, at least in part to close off the president's consideration of other candidates, including DeSantis, according to people familiar with the decision.

Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter recently urged Trump to nominate DeSantis as attorney general, according to people familiar with those conversations. DeSantis told the Journal he has not asked for a job.

In Republican politics, Trump's influence shapes races at every level, and the question of who earns his favor, and who doesn't, carries real consequences.

Friction in Tallahassee, too

DeSantis faces headwinds closer to home as well. The conservative Florida House refused this spring to take up his proposals on artificial intelligence and a bill to relax some vaccine requirements. For a governor who built his national brand on executive action, the legislative pushback is a notable setback in his final months.

State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, a Miami Republican who was among the few to endorse Trump over DeSantis during the 2024 primary, was blunt in his assessment. "What he's been doing for the past several months is just political theater for a possible 2028 presidential run," Porras said.

DeSantis dismissed the criticism. He pointed to the voters who backed him in his landslide re-election. "A lot of them voted for me when I ran for re-election down here," he said.

He also stepped carefully around the question of Supreme Court term limits, a topic that has drawn interest in some conservative circles. "I'm not saying that there's not merit to people that are raising that," DeSantis said. "I'm just saying, how do you replace Clarence Thomas? How do you replace Sam Alito?"

Eyes on 2028

DeSantis is planning to step up travel across the country to advocate for constitutional amendments imposing congressional term limits and a balanced federal budget. The effort would raise his national profile at exactly the moment when the 2028 conversation is beginning in earnest.

His wife, Casey DeSantis, remains one of his chief advisers. Last year she mulled a run for governor herself. The couple also unsuccessfully sought to persuade Trump to minimize his support for Rep. Byron Donalds, according to people familiar with those conversations, a request that underscores the competitive dynamics still at play within Florida Republican politics.

Bob Vander Plaats, a prominent Iowa evangelical leader, offered a sympathetic read of DeSantis's 2024 campaign. "He was running against a three-time-indicted Donald Trump and the people rallied to have Trump's back. There wasn't a lot he could do," Vander Plaats said. He added that DeSantis remains popular in Iowa and that "he may find out that the investment he made was the best thing he ever did."

Fox News reported at the time that Trump said he was "very honored" by DeSantis's endorsement and wanted to work with him. The New York Post noted that DeSantis acknowledged he no longer had a clear path to the nomination, saying Trump "is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden."

DeSantis's trajectory since that January day has been deliberate. He made fundraising calls. He golfed with the president. He signed maps that help the party. He co-chaired a White House panel. He avoided public complaints. Whether that discipline earns him a cabinet post, a 2028 lane, or simply a seat at the table remains an open question.

The broader dynamic within the party, where loyalty to Trump can make or break a political career, continues to shape decisions from Tallahassee to Washington. Even Trump's own comments about considering DeSantis for a cabinet post illustrate how central the president's judgment remains to the ambitions of every Republican with national aspirations.

DeSantis summed up his view of the landscape in two short sentences: "Politics is fickle. Things change."

They do. And the politicians who survive are the ones who change with them, without losing their nerve or their record. DeSantis is betting he can do both.