Florida Governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis recently embarked on an international tour that includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the United Kingdom.
During his first stop in Tokyo on Monday, DeSantis shut down questions about his ranking in the polls which show him trailing former president Donald Trump.
According to NBC News’ first national 2024 primary poll, Trump leads potential challenger DeSantis by 15 percentage points. In the poll, Trump has the support of 46% of Republican primary voters, while DeSantis has 31%.
When asked by a reporter about trailing behind Trump in the polls, DeSantis shut them down, saying, “I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if and when that changes.”
It is being speculated that DeSantis is on this four-nation tour in order to boost his foreign policy credentials ahead of a possible presidential run announcement.
While meeting with Japanese leaders on Monday, DeSantis said, “I think Japan’s been a heck of an ally for our country, and I think a strong Japan is good for America, and I think a strong America is good for Japan.”
DeSantis and his wife met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
DeSantis is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister James Cleverly while in the UK, but has no meeting scheduled with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The Florida governor has pledged to be the most “pro-Israel” governor in the U.S., and is scheduled to speak at an event on Thursday that celebrates the 75th anniversary of the creation of Israel.
DeSantis will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, other government leaders, and Israeli companies that are invested in Florida or are interested in doing so.
On Monday, Trump mocked DeSantis’ trip, posting on Truth Social that his potential opponent is traveling “in order to up his game and see if he can remove the stain from his failing campaign. Bad poll numbers!”
