Ron DeSantis expects ‘small talk’ with Donald Trump if both meet in Iowa Saturday

Gov. Ron DeSantis is eager to get to Saturday’s Cy-Hawk game — for the uninitiated, that stands for  Iowa–Iowa State.

Yet he’s not the only GOP presidential hopeful headed to the Hawkeye State for the corn-fed rivalry. Former President Donald Trump will also be in attendance.

If the two Republican candidates should meet, meanwhile, don’t expect the Florida Governor to confront the former President about “lockdowns” or Anthony Fauci. Instead, expect the conversation to be much more friendly if DeSantis has his druthers.

“I’d probably just exchange pleasantries with him. Probably ask him how his golf game is going. We typically, you know, even when I was Governor, when he was President, you know, a lot of times we would chat about things like golf and sports and stuff like that. So it probably would be just more small talk than anything,” DeSantis told KCCI.

While the Governor expects “pleasantries,” he said he’d be up to discuss the campaign if that was the former President’s preference.

“If he wanted to debate the issues, I’m game to do it. But I would rather we do that in a public forum so that the American people can be the judge,” DeSantis said.

As for his cheering preference, it appears DeSantis is a Cyclone-by-association.

“I’m planning on linking up with your Governor who I know is an Iowa state grad. So you’re not going to find me saying anything negative about Iowa State,” DeSantis said. “Let’s just put it that way.”

The Governor’s enthusiasm for out-of-state college football has been established, such as in comments last month where he, a double Ivy who played baseball at Yale, griped about recruits leaving Florida to play for programs elsewhere. But his real enthusiasm is for the state of Iowa itself, where he boasts about being a “clear second” to Trump in what his internal polling calls a “two-man race.”

While DeSantis may be excited about Iowa State football, it’s less certain he’s excited about Iowa State polling of the 2024 race released Friday. DeSantis is down by 37 points to Trump, 51% to 14%, with Nikki Haley in third place, four points behind the Florida Governor.