Donald Trump Dubs Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 'Meatball Ron' As Political Rivalry Heats Up

Donald Trump has a couple of interesting new nicknames for recent political rival Ron DeSantis.

The former POTUS has reportedly privately been referring to the Florida governor as "Meatball Ron" and "Shutdown Ron," with the latter referring to his decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports have indicated that the former television personality may also be planning on making DeSantis' handling of the pandemic a focal point in his upcoming campaign. The 76-year-old's staffers are reportedly hard at work trying to find evidence to publicly prove the governor is a "phony" when it came to his behavior throughout the health crisis.

This comes as rumors continue to spread that DeSantis may be considering campaigning in the 2024 presidential election himself. As OK! previously reported, this appeared to spark tensions between Trump and the Floridian, with the embattled politician claiming that he would consider it a major betrayal if DeSantis ran against him.

"If he runs, that's fine. I'm way up in the polls," Trump said at the time. "He's going to have to do what he wants to do, but he may run. I do think it would be a great act of disloyalty because, you know, I got him in. He had no chance. His political life was over."

But Trump's dragging of DeSantis didn't stop there. OK! also learned he recently claimed that DeSantis had cried and begged him for a political endorsement when he was running for governor back in 2018.

"Ron DeSantis got elected because of me," he bragged to conservative radio personality Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, February 2. "You remember he had nothing. He was dead, he was leaving the race."

"He came over and he begged me, begged me for an endorsement. He was getting ready to drop out," Trump continued. "He said, 'If you endorse me, I'll win' and there were tears coming down from his eyes."

The New York Times reported Trump's alleged secret new nicknames for DeSantis.

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