Trump, in West Palm Beach, tells DeSantis: "I will never forget." And … – Palm Beach Post
WEST PALM BEACH — Former President Donald Trump issued a not-so-veiled threat to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday night: “I can never forget.”
And for good measure, he warned DeSantis, whose campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is flailing in the polls, not to plan on seeking the White House in 2028.
“I think he blew it for in four years. You never know what’s going to happen, but in ’28, I don’t see it happening,” Trump said to a crowd of supporters. “I can never forget because that’s such great disloyalty.”
Trump recounted how DeSantis trailed the leading GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2018, Adam Putnam, until he tossed his full support behind DeSantis, the then-congressman from Northeast Florida. Once DeSantis chose to challenge him for the 2024 GOP nomination, Trump said the gloves came off.
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“So we hit him very hard,” Trump said, adding that he didn’t care if the governor was a fellow Republican. “And he didn’t have a lot of political skill, to put it mildly.”
Trump also lambasted DeSantis for failing to address Florida’s ongoing and worsening property insurance crisis, saying the governor was taking money from insurance companies to fund his campaign instead of governing Florida.
“This guy is flying around wasting his time,” Trump claimed, citing a series of polls showing him well ahead of DeSantis, who the New York Post after the November 2022 midterm election proclaimed as “DeFuture.”
“No, not the future of the party,” Trump said. “I don’t think so. MAGA’s never going to forget.”
Trump spoke to a special gathering of Club 47, a Trump fan club, that was held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Whereas the club’s regular meeting at an airport ballroom draws hundreds, Wednesday’s appearance at the convention center drew more than 3,000 people.
It was Trump’s first public speech since returning to Palm Beach for the winter social season, which usually begins in October and continues through April. Trump’s current stay has been and will continue to be interrupted by court dates and presidential campaigning.
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During the speech, Trump faulted President Joe Biden and his administration’s response to the violence that has gripped Israel and the Gaza Strip since Saturday’s attacks by the militant group Hamas, in which they targeted civilians and took hostages. Trump reiterated a call that he made earlier Wednesday demanding the Biden administration “re-freeze” the $6 billion in assets that Tehran is to get access to as part of an American hostage release announced last month.
“Under my leadership, we will stand with Israel 100%,” Trump said to cheers.
The Biden campaign, however, chastised Trump saying he was “pushing dangerous misinformation about the crisis in Israel at a time when we should be standing together to support the country.”
A campaign statement pointed to reports from Fox News that the $6 billion is in a secure bank account in Qatar, and the U.S. Treasury must validate “the bills of lading for the money” to be withdrawn, according to social media posts by a Fox News reporter on X, formerly Twitter. The report said none of the frozen Iranian money could have been used by Hamas.
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The Biden campaign also reminded the U.S. public that top military officials who served in the Trump administration have called Trump a threat to democracy plus “dangerous,” “unfit,” and lacking any “idea what America stands for.” They include retired Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, ex-White House Chief of Staff and Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly as well as the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen.
Trump didn’t mention any of the military leaders by name, except Milley, as he repeatedly scorned what he said were “television generals.”
Trump also singed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling an anecdote from early January 2020 that suggested the Israeli leader lacked fortitude and resolve.
The story that Trump told, which he mused that it could be classified, is that the drone attack that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2020 had been planned for months along with Israeli forces. It was a military strike that occurred while Trump was at Mar-a-Lago for the 2019 Christmas and New Year’s holiday.
“He was a very bad guy, a very smart guy, but a very bad guy,” Trump said, noting that intelligence officials said Soleimani planned to attack U.S. bases overseas.
Trump claimed that he was told the night before the covert operation that the Israelis had decided to back out. Trump said he then engaged U.S. military officials in a discussion over whether to go ahead with the assault.
“Let’s do it,” Trump said he told U.S. generals involved in the mission.
He then added: “I’ll never forget that Beebe Netanyahu let us down … That was a terrible thing.”
TV star Roseanne Barr was in the crowd for the speech. Trump acknowledged her, citing the phenomenal ratings her show, “The Connors,” received in 2018.
Barr was dropped from the reboot of her successful sitcom, Roseanne, by the ABC network following a tweet calling former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett the product of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.”
Former first lady Melania Trump maintained her absence from the campaign trail by not appearing at the convention center, which is 3.5 miles from Mar-a-Lago. She has not attended any of his campaign rallies or events, nor post-indictment speeches. But Trump’s son Eric and his wife, Lara, did attend.
Another MAGA-lebrity who appeared was Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, with his spouse, Ginger. Club 47 had Gaetz listed as one of the scheduled speakers, but the Pensacola Republican who led the revolt which ousted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his role, did not take the podium.
Trump’s winter season stay at Mar-a-Lago, his official residence since 2019, promises to be busy. The Republican Iowa causes will kick off the campaign season followed by New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.
On March 4, however, Trump is scheduled to stand trial on the four-count indictment related to the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol. The next day, March 5, is Super Tuesday. Trump is also scheduled to stand trial on the classified documents case on May 20, although that court date may well be pushed back.
There will be a host of political functions in between, with an event scheduled for Nov. 9 at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate the Republican Party of Florida.
The largest and most opulent may well be on Feb. 10 when the Trumpettes fan club hosts a gala to honor the 45th president at his Palm Beach club.
Trumpettes president and co-founder, Toni Kramer, said Wednesday that the theme of the event will be “Putting on the Glitz” and will feature an as of yet not revealed celebrity.
“It’s going to be magnificent,” Kramer said.
In 2019, the Trumpettes gala at Mar-a-Lago honored Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, father of actress Angelina Jolie. The following year, both Trump and DeSantis, accompanied by their spouses, attended the football-themed Trumpettes gala.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.