(WASHINGTON) — The White House COVID-19 team will wind down as the country moves out of the emergency phase of the pandemic, multiple administration officials confirmed to ABC News.
The public health emergency is set to expire on May 11 after being in place since early 2020. The end will impact public health measures afforded by the pandemic, like expanded Medicaid enrollment, subsidized costs of COVID tests, and data gathering on cases and deaths across the country.
It will also mark a “new phase” of COVID response, an administration official said, which will be mirrored by a restructuring within the White House.
“The COVID team size will reflect the new phase that we’re in as the public health emergency ends,” an administration official said.
And Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID coordinator, is also likely to leave, according to another administration official.
His departure is expected around the time the emergency ends, a member of the White House COVID team said. Many members of the current response team have already returned to their original agencies or other jobs, the team member added.
The Washington Post was the first to report the news on the team winding down.
In a statement, a senior administration official told ABC News that “COVID no longer disrupts our lives because of investments and our efforts to mitigate its worst impacts.”
“COVID is not over, fighting it remains an administration priority, and transitioning out of the emergency phase is the natural evolution of the COVID response,” the official said.
(NEW YORK) — A grand jury is continuing to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
No current or former president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct.
Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Check back for updates:
Mar 23, 5:28 AM EDT
Trump could still be elected president if indicted or convicted, experts say
According to law, former President Donald Trump can be elected president if indicted — or even convicted — in any of the state and federal investigations he is currently facing, experts tell ABC News. But there are practical reasons that could make it a challenge, experts say.
Trump said earlier this month at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that he would “absolutely” run for president even if he were to be criminally indicted.
“I wouldn’t even think about leaving,” Trump told reporters ahead of a speech. “Probably it will enhance my numbers.”
Mar 22, 12:51 PM EDT
Manhattan grand jury to reconvene as early as Thursday
The Manhattan grand jury weighing charges against former President Donald Trump in connection to the Stormy Daniels hush payment investigation is not meeting on Wednesday, sources told ABC News. The earliest the grand jury would reconvene is Thursday, sources said.
The grand jurors were called Wednesday morning and told they were not needed during the day as scheduled, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The grand jurors were told to be prepared to reconvene on Thursday when it’s possible they will hear from at least one additional witness, the sources said.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing grand jury matters.
-ABC News’ John Santucci and Luke Barr
Mar 22, 8:25 AM EDT
With Trump case looming, what is an indictment?
Criminal prosecution proceedings typically start with an arrest and a court appearance, but legal experts say that on many occasions, especially in white collar crimes, suspects aren’t hit with charges or a visit from an officer until long after an official investigation is underway.
Typically, if a crime is being investigated, law enforcement agents will make an arrest, file initial charges and bring a suspect to be arraigned in court, Vincent Southerland, an assistant professor of clinical law and the director of the criminal defense and reentry clinic at NYU School of Law, told ABC News.
After this arraignment, prosecutors would impanel a grand jury for a formal criminal indictment. Southerland, who has been practicing law in New York state for 19 years, said this process includes giving the jury evidence, possible testimony and other exhibits before they can officially charge a person with felonies.
A Manhattan grand jury is currently investigating Trump’s possible role in the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The former president has denied any wrongdoing and having an affair with Daniels. His attorneys have framed the funds as a response to an extortion plot.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira
Mar 21, 6:11 PM EDT
Pence discourages protests if Trump indicted
Former Vice President Mike Pence discouraged any protests should a grand jury indict Donald Trump.
“Every American has the right to let their voice be heard. The Constitution provides the right to peaceably assemble. But I think in this instance, I would discourage Americans from engaging in protests if in fact the former president is indicted,” Pence said Tuesday when asked by ABC News if Americans should protest a possible indictment.
Pence said he understood the “frustration” while calling the case “politically motivated.”
“But I think letting our voices be heard in other ways, and in not engaging in protests, I think is most prudent at this time,” he said.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Mar 21, 11:00 AM EDT
McCarthy grows frustrated as Trump questions persist at House GOP retreat
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy again ripped into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg when asked about the potential charges against former President Donald Trump at a Tuesday press conference at the House GOP retreat in Orlando.
When McCarthy was asked directly if had concerns about Trump’s alleged conduct regarding the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, he didn’t answer the question and instead pivoted to talking about Hillary Clinton and Bragg.
“What we see before us is a political game being played by a local. Look, this isn’t New York City, this is just a Manhattan,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said he hasn’t spoken to Trump in three weeks.
When asked if Trump is still the leader of the Republican Party, McCarthy took a jab at the press: “In the press room, for all of you, he is.”
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin
Mar 21, 10:14 AM EDT
Grand jury to reconvene on Wednesday
A grand jury will reconvene on Wednesday to continue to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly keep her from talking about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump.
Trump has denied the affair and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is mulling whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records, after the Trump Organization allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment then logged the reimbursement as a legal expense, sources have told ABC News. Trump has called the payment “a private contract between two parties” and has denied all wrongdoing.
Trump this weekend wrote on his Truth Social platform that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.
The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating security plans with the NYPD in the event of an indictment and arraignment in an open courtroom in Manhattan, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The two agencies had a call Monday to discuss logistics, including court security and how Trump would potentially surrender for booking and processing, according to sources briefed on the discussions. White collar criminal defendants in New York are typically allowed to negotiate a surrender.
(DENVER) — A student who was under a “certain agreement to be patted down each day” at school allegedly shot and wounded two school administrators at East High School in Denver, authorities said.
The suspect, Austin Lyle, 17, fled the school on Wednesday morning after the shooting, Denver police said. His body was later discovered, officials said.
Police searching for the suspect had located his car in Park County, which is located southwest of Denver, officials said Wednesday evening. A male body was found near the vehicle, Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw later said during a press conference. The scene was being processed and the coroner was en route to the scene, McGraw said.
The Park County Coroner’s Office later confirmed that the body was Lyle’s.
The handgun used in the shooting has not been recovered as of Wednesday. Police had warned the public to not approach Lyle, calling him armed and dangerous. They said that Lyle, who had been wanted for attempted homicide, may have been be driving a 2005 red Volvo XC90 with Colorado license plate BSCW10.
The faculty members were both hospitalized following the shooting. They have been identified by the school district as Eric Sinclair, who remains in serious condition, and Jerald Mason, who was upgraded from serious to good condition. Mason has since been released from the hospital, Denver Health said.
The suspected shooter was required to be searched at the beginning of each school day, officials said. He allegedly shot the school administrators as they patted him down Wednesday morning in the school’s office area, which officials said is away from other students and staff.
The suspect’s daily searches were part of a “safety plan” that was a result of “previous behavior,” officials said, though they did not elaborate on the previous behavior.
East High School was placed on lockdown in the wake of the shooting. Denver Public Schools later said it received clearance to start releasing students.
Last month, East High School students went to a city council meeting to call for action on school safety and gun violence after a 16-year-old student was fatally shot near the school, according to ABC Denver affiliate KMGH-TV.
The superintendent said Wednesday that the school will be closed for the rest of this week, and that the building will now have two armed officers present through the end of the school year.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock in a statement said removing school resource officers was a “mistake” and said they should be quickly returned.
“We all have to step up as a community and be a part of the solution,” he said.
Hancock also called on Congress to pass “common sense” gun legislation.
“Parents are angry and frustrated, and they have a right to be,” he said. “Easy access to guns must be addressed in our country — Denver cannot do this alone.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday that the administration’s “hearts go out to the families of the two school administrators and in Denver today and to the entire school community.”
Jean-Pierre noted that President Joe Biden unveiled another executive action aimed at tackling gun violence last week but that “as the president said in the State of the Union, Congress needs to do something.”
This shooting comes two years to the day after a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, that claimed 10 lives.
(WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.) — Monmouth University lifted a shelter-in-place order after an investigation into a “possible armed subject” found that a curling iron “was mistaken for a weapon,” a university official said.
Police at Monmouth, in West Long Branch, New Jersey, had received a report at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday of a “possible armed subject” on campus, the school said in an alert posted to its website.
Multiple local and county law enforcement agencies searched and secured the campus, the university said.
“Detectives were able to utilize video footage and other technology based on the description provided and identified a person of interest, a currently enrolled student,” Patrick F. Leahy, the president, said in a letter posted early Thursday.
He added, “Based on interviews with that person, law enforcement personnel were able to determine that the person was in possession of a curling iron that was mistaken for a weapon.”
The university issued an all-clear notification a short time later.
“All clear-the shelter in place on campus has been lifted, the campus is safe, an elevated police presence remains,” school officials said on Twitter early Thursday. “Additional information will be sent via email.”
All classes before noon on Thursday have been canceled, the school said.
(NEW YORK) — Death rates from COVID-19 varied dramatically across the United States, a major new analysis finds.
The report, published Monday in medical journal The Lancet, looked at the rate of deaths throughout the country between January 2020 and July 2022.
COVID death rates in states like Arizona and New Mexico were roughly four times higher than in states like Hawaii, New Hampshire and Maine, researchers found.
The highest COVID-19 death rates were seen in Arizona with 581 deaths per 100,000 and Washington D.C. with 526 deaths per 100,000.
By comparison, the lowest rates of death were seen in Hawaii with 147 deaths per 100,000, New Hampshire with 215 deaths per 100,000 and Maine with 218 deaths per 100,000.
The authors of the study noted that Arizona’s high death rate from COVID-19 deaths may be due to “inequality, some poverty…ultimately [low] vaccination rates and behaviors didn’t line up to have good outcomes.”
States that did well, like Hawaii, New Hampshire and Washington state, are states — in most cases — “[that] have done a good job restricting travel, and in some cases have less poverty, less inequality, and relatively high vaccination rates.”
Additionally, states with larger proportions of people who identified as Black or Hispanic witnessed higher death rates.
Lower rates of infection and death from COVID-19 were seen in states with higher education levels, lower poverty levels and higher rates of self-reported trust in the federal government and in the scientific community.
“Nearly every state, from the 26 worst performing states in the pandemic, fall into one of the three…[either] disproportionately high population of people identifying as Hispanic…higher than the national average identifying as black…or high levels of support for the 2020 republican presidential candidate,” said lead author Tom Bollyky, a senior fellow for global health, economics, and development at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of law at Georgetown University, in a video commentary.
The authors further discussed parts of the study highlighting racial, economic and social inequities in the U.S. that led to differences in rates of infection and death rates between states.
States with higher poverty rates of poverty had higher death rates. For every 2.6% increase in poverty rates above the national average within a state, there was a 23.3% increase in the cumulative death rate, reflecting a significant economic healthcare disparity.
“The COVID-19 pandemic clearly exacerbated fundamental social and economic inequities, but science-based interventions and policy changes provided clear impact on mortality rates at the state level,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.
Policies adopted by states during the pandemic, including mask mandates, social distancing and vaccine mandates, were associated with lower COVID-19 infection rates and higher vaccination rates were associated with lower death rates.
“We can invest in programs that protect the communities that we see disproportionately affected by the pandemic,” said co-lead author Emma Castro, a researcher at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, in the video commentary. “We can invest in programs such as paid family and sick leaves, expanded health insurance and expanded Medicaid.”
(WASHINGTON) — A Supreme Court debate Wednesday over parody and popular commercial brands was dominated by talk of whiskey bottles, dog toys, pornography and poop.
For nearly two hours, in an argument punctuated by laughter, the justices wrestled with the intersection of freedom of speech and protection for trademarks in a case pitting a humorous dog toy maker against American whiskey producer Jack Daniel’s.
The case, Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc., v. VIP Products, centers on a chew toy that resembles a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey but is spoofed as “Bad Spaniels” with the suggestion that its contents are pet waste.
“This case involves a dog toy that copies Jack Daniel’s trademark and trade dress and associates its whiskey with dog poop,” the whiskey maker’s attorney Lisa Blatt told the court on Wednesday.
The liquor company claims the toy’s design causes confusion and dilutes the quality of its brand. VIP Products insists the spoof is obvious and protected by the First Amendment.
“They’re complaining about the speech, the parody, the comparison to dog poop and a Bad Spaniel, not the mark,” VIP Products attorney Bennett Cooper said Wednesday. “Parodies on noncompetitive goods like Bad Spaniels aren’t likely to cause confusion.”
A district court sided with Jack Daniel’s but an appeals court reversed, upholding the toy. The justices considered what legal test should decide when a trademark has been infringed and whether VIP Products’ toy had done so.
“Could any reasonable person think that Jack Daniel’s had approved this use of the mark?” Justice Samuel Alito asked Blatt, representing the whiskey maker.
“Absolutely,” Blatt replied. “That’s why we won [in the district court].”
“I’m concerned about the First Amendment implications of your position,” Alito said.
Blatt, backed by dozens of U.S. brands like American Apparel, Campbell Soup Company and Nike, warned that allowing imitations like “Bad Spaniels” would open the floodgates to harmful trademark infringement — under the justification of “parody” — including in pornography.
Blatt told the justices that trademark owners could be victims of “something that approaches compelled speech if their mark has been used in porn films and porn toys and sex toys, and people are profiting off of that.”
She raised the ’70s pornographic film “Debbie Does Dallas,” which an appeals court in a separate case found had infringed the trademark of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Meanwhile, VIP Products argued that a dog toy is a “noncommercial” form of protected speech — a distinctive parody, said Cooper, one of their attorneys, because it does not explicitly say “Jack Daniel’s.”
“There’s no doubt that Jack Daniel’s takes itself very seriously,” Cooper quipped.
Some on the court did not appear convinced.
“Maybe I just have no sense of humor — but what’s the parody?” asked Justice Elena Kagan. She went on to suggest the chew toy is just an “ordinary commercial product” profiting from the likeness of a whiskey brand.
“You make fun of a lot of marks: Doggie Walker, Dos Perros, Smella R Paw, Canine Cola, Mountain Drool. Are all of these companies taking themselves too seriously?” she asked dryly.
Chief Justice John Roberts guided the morning’s arguments but did not ask any questions himself. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett did not speak at all throughout the proceedings.
There was no apparent consensus among the justices on which company should prevail or whether the matter should be sent back to a lower court for further consideration.
The court is expected to release a decision by the end of June.
(CHARLESTON, W.Va.) — The Department of Justice announced Wednesday it made the largest methamphetamine bust in West Virginia history.
The DOJ charged 30 people with allegedly distributing more than 200 pounds of meth, alongside guns and other drugs, over a period of seven months, dubbing the operation “Operation Smoke and Mirrors.”
“The takedown of this drug trafficking organization stopped a record amount of methamphetamine, as well as other dangerous drugs, from reaching our communities and causing harm,” United States Attorney Will Thompson said in a statement.
According to the DOJ, the individuals were also charged with distributing large amounts of cocaine and fentanyl in Charleston.
Officials seized 28 pounds of cocaine, 20 pounds of fentanyl, 18 guns and $747,000 in cash during the operation, the Justice Department said.
“This investigation demonstrates that we will use all of our resources, including new and innovative investigative techniques, against those who target our communities with this poison,” Thompson said.
The announcement comes on the same day that the Department of Homeland Security disclosed it seized 900 pounds of fentanyl in its first week as part of its fentanyl-targeting operation called “Operation Blue Lotus.”
According to DHS, the operation has led to 18 seizures, 16 federal arrests, and two state arrests. Those seizures prevented over 900 pounds of fentanyl, 700 pounds of methamphetamine and 100 pounds of cocaine from entering the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meth killed over 32,000 Americans in 2021.
(WASHINGTON) — An appeals court on Wednesday rejected an effort by former President Donald Trump’s attorneys to block Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran from having to testify and hand over records to special counsel Jack Smith’s team investigating Trump’s handling of classified records after leaving the White House, according to court records.
The three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled extraordinarily swiftly against the request for a stay by Trump’s attorneys, who sought to block an order last Friday by the chief judge for the D.C. District Court, who determined the government had made a prima facie case that Corcoran’s legal services were likely used by Trump in the furtherance of a crime.
Corcoran was expected to testify as soon as Friday, sources said.
D.C. district judge Beryl Howell ruled that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office had made a “prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,” according to sources who described her Friday order, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers, Corcoran and Jennifer Little, could therefore be pierced.
Sources familiar with the matter further described to ABC New the six topics that Corcoran was ordered by Judge Howell to testify about, over which he had previously sought to assert attorney-client privilege.
The topics indicate that Smith has zeroed in on Trump’s actions surrounding his response to a May 11 DOJ subpoena that sought all remaining classified documents in his possession — which investigators have described as key to Trump’s alleged “scheme” to obstruct the investigation, sources said.
ABC News reported exclusively Tuesday that Smith believes Trump intentionally and deliberately misled his own attorneys about Trump’s retention of classified materials after leaving office, according to sources who described the judge’s sealed ruling piercing Corcoran’s claims of privilege.
According to sources familiar with the filing, Smith wants information from Corcoran on whether Trump or anyone else in his employ was aware of the signed certification that was drafted by Corcoran and signed by Trump attorney Christina Bobb then submitted in response to the May 11 subpoena from the DOJ seeking all remaining documents with classified markings in Trump’s possession. That certification was later discovered to be false, prompting the eventual court-authorized search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in which FBI investigators recovered more than 100 classified documents — including some located in Trump’s personal office, according to previously released court documents.
Smith’s investigators specifically want to ask Corcoran whether Trump was aware of the statements in the certification, which claimed a “diligent search” of Mar-a-Lago had been conducted, and if Trump approved of it being provided to the government, sources familiar with the filing said.
Corcoran was ordered to detail the steps he took to determine where documents responsive to DOJ’s May subpoena may have been located, sources said. He also was ordered to provide testimony on why he believed all documents with classification markings were held in Mar-a-Lago’s storage room, as he had allegedly confirmed to a top DOJ official when investigators visited the estate in June of last year.
Investigators have sought to question Corcoran on the people involved in choosing Bobb as the designated custodian of records for documents that Trump took with him after leaving the White House, and any communications he exchanged with Bobb in connection with her selection, per sources familiar with the filing.
Investigators also want Corcoran to tell them what he discussed with Trump in a June 24 phone call on the same day that the Trump Organization received a second grand jury subpoena demanding surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago that would show whether anyone moved boxes in and out of the storage room, which Trump’s team had previously barred investigators from searching during their visit to the estate earlier that month, the sources said.
According to sources, Howell’s order piercing attorney-client privilege on that topic said that the government had characterized the conversation as furthering “a different stage” of Trump’s “ongoing scheme” to prevent the government from retrieving all classified documents from Mar-a-Lago.
“There is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump,” a Trump spokesperson told ABC News. “The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion, because they are clearly losing the political battle. The real story here is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever.”
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
(NEW YORK) — Foot Locker plans to close 400 stores in North America by 2026 as it rebrands part of its business, the company announced Monday.
The company plans to close many underperforming stores in shopping malls while focusing on strengthening its standalone stores with new concepts, Foot Locker said during its Investor Day presentation.
“We are entering 2023 with a focus on resetting the business — simplifying our operations and investing in our core banners and capabilities to position the company for growth in 2024 and beyond,” Foot Locker president and CEO Mary Dillon said in a news release on the company’s website.
One of its announced plans is called “Lace Up,” which aims to target consumers and focus on “all things sneakers,” the company announced in its presentation.
“We are incredibly excited to introduce our ‘Lace Up’ plan with a new set of strategic imperatives and financial objectives that are designed to set us up for success for the next 50 years,” Dillon said.
Next year Foot Locker celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Despite the plan to close hundreds of stores in North America within the next three years, the company plans to expand its footprint by opening 280 stores that focus on its community, power store and house of play concepts.
The sports apparel company also announced the closing of 125 of its Champ Sports stores in 2023 and resetting the brand to focus heavily on people who are more active in sports and fitness.
As of January, the company operates over 2,700 stores in 29 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Sales decreased by 0.3% during the company’s fourth quarter compared to the same quarter in 2021.
According to the company, Foot Locker plans to decrease its overall real estate footprint by 10% in 2026, leaving it with 2,400 stores.
(NEW YORK) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis likened former President Donald Trump’s jabs against him to so much “background noise,” according to excerpts from an upcoming interview with Piers Morgan.
“To me, it’s just background noise,” DeSantis is quoted saying in an account of the sit-down Morgan wrote for The New York Post. “It’s not important for me to be fighting with people on social media.”
DeSantis, a hugely popular and controversial GOP governor considered to be Trump’s closest competitor if he enters the race for president, also took an apparent swipe at Trump’s character.
Speaking with Morgan, DeSantis said politicians should aspire to fewer moral failings.
“You really want to look to people like our Founding Fathers, like what type of character. It’s not saying that you don’t ever make a mistake in your personal life, but I think what type of character are you bringing?” DeSantis said to Morgan, according to the excerpts in the Post.
“Somebody who really set the standard is George Washington because he always put the republic over his own personal interest. When we won the American Revolution, Washington surrendered his sword. [King] George III said, ‘He’s the greatest man in the world if he gives up power.’ I think the person is more about how you handle your public duties and the kind of character you bring to that endeavor,” DeSantis added.
Quotes from the interview, which will air Thursday night on Fox Nation, were published in the Post and via several clips from Fox News.
As polls place DeSantis as Trump’s biggest challenger for the Republican nomination, should DeSantis announce a 2024 campaign as expected, the former president has grown increasingly critical of DeSantis and DeSantis’ record.
And while DeSantis had largely been ignoring the attacks — saying last month that “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans” — he’s become more vocal in directly responding as Trump’s criticisms ramp up.
On Monday, the Florida governor distanced himself from Trump and adult film star Stormy Daniels when asked at a press conference about Trump potentially being indicted in New York City.
“Look, I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just can’t speak to that,” DeSantis told reporters.
Trump is being investigated there over money he paid to Daniels before the 2016 election to stop her from discussing an alleged affair with Trump.
Trump denies wrongdoing and Daniels’ claim of an affair; his attorney has called the money extortion.
At Monday’s press conference, DeSantis went on to criticize the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who is leading the probe. DeSantis accused Bragg of “pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office.” (A spokeswoman for Bragg said in response to DeSantis that “we will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law.”)
DeSantis echoed his view of the investigation when talking with Morgan but said of Trump’s alleged conduct: “The reality is that’s just outside my wheelhouse. I mean, that’s just not something that I can speak to.”
Trump seemingly reacted to DeSantis’ remark on Monday referencing the Daniels controversy with a post on his Truth Social platform, writing that “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known.”
During his sit-down interview with Morgan at the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, when asked about Trump’s escalating criticism of him, someone Trump previously endorsed, DeSantis “chuckled,” Morgan wrote in the Post.
“Things have changed a little bit, I guess. It is what it is,” DeSantis said, noting the shift came after his double-digit reelection last year.
He sought to draw sharp distinctions between him and Trump as leaders, particularly on what he called his “drama-free” executive style.
“The way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board,” he said. “And I think that’s something that’s very important.”
He also brushed off the nicknames from Trump, who favors insulting his rivals.
“I don’t know how to spell the sanctimonious one,” DeSantis said. “I don’t really know what it means, but I kinda like it. It’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels.”
“I mean you can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because that’s what we’ve been able to do in Florida, is put a lot of points on the board and really take this state to the next level,” he said.
The response to COVID-19 was another thing that separated him and Trump, DeSantis said: “I would have fired somebody like [Dr. Anthony] Fauci. I think that he got way too big for his britches.”
In another excerpt, DeSantis projected confidence that he could take on President Joe Biden in a general matchup next year, though neither of them is officially in the race yet.
“If I were to run,” DeSantis said, “I’m running against Biden. Like we [him and Trump] are competing for the Republican, potentially, I get that, but ultimately, you know, the guy I’m gonna focus on is Biden because I think he’s failed the country. I think the country wants a change. I think they want a fresh start and a new direction, and so we’ll be very vocal about that.”
On Wednesday, Trump responded to DeSantis’ interview with Morgan with a post on Truth Social, claiming that he is an “average” governor and “is not working for the people of Florida as he should be, he is too busy chatting with a Ratings Challenged TV Host.”
Despite recent tours of pivotal early-voting states like Iowa and Nevada, DeSantis maintained to Morgan that he’s not made a “final decision” on whether he’ll run in 2024.
However, he has privately indicated to allies that he expects to jump in the race around May or June, sources familiar with the matter previously told ABC News.
“I’ve told people that I’ve got a lot to do over the next few months in Florida,” DeSantis told Morgan. “We’re gonna put a lot of points on the board. And then we’ll see how the dust settles after that, but I can tell you a lot of people realize the country is not going in the right direction and believe that what we’ve been able to do in Florida, if we can apply that nationally, we can get America back on track and back on our foundations.”
DeSantis is scheduled to headline a fundraiser in New Hampshire next month.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Isabella Murray and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
