Trump rallies
DeSantis' chief of staff reportedly inquired about postponement of Trump's Sarasota rally
After officials from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) office surveyed the aftermath of the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida, the governor's chief of staff, Adrian Lukas, reportedly had a phone conversation with Michael Glassner, a longtime aide to former President Donald Trump who was overseeing a rally Trump held in Sarasota, Florida, on Saturday night. Per The New York Times, Lukis asked Glassner if Trump still planned to hold the rally in the wake of the tragedy. Glassner reportedly said there were no plans to reschedule.
There's no indication from the Times' report that the conversation was contentious, but it's not the first rumbling that DeSantis' camp wasn't thrilled about the rally taking the place or that there may be inklings of tension between the allies, who may eventually be competitors in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. The Washington Examiner reported earlier in the week that DeSantis' office directly asked Trump's team to postpone the event, although DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw said that was not the case.
Trump said he told DeSantis not to come to Sarasota, which is across the state from the Miami area, while his focused remains on Surfside and victims, suggesting that the two were on the same page, but the Times notes Trump did not include DeSantis while thanking Republican leaders in Florida during the rally. Read more at The New York Times.