Trump considers Florida as launching pad for his 2024 White House run to show Gov. Ron DeSantis 'who the boss is': report

• Polls are showing that Trump '24 would be at the top of the GOP ticket.
• But Trump has noticed the attention DeSantis is getting nationally, reports say.

Former President Donald Trump has his eye on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as one of the key Republicans standing in his way should he plan to have another go at the presidency.

Trump is even considering announcing his 2024 White House bid near Tallahassee, the state's capital, to show DeSantis "who the boss is," according to a Rolling Stone report.

"He calls DeSantis 'a stiff' and 'ungrateful.' Adjectives," said a GOP strategist who spoke to Insider on condition of anonymity, citing conversations with two separate people who'd spoken to Trump about it.

Trump, 75, endorsed DeSantis during the 2018 gubernatorial primary, propelling the former congressman to the top of the ticket. During TV interviews Trump has been quick to claim credit for the governor's rise and has said he doesn't think DeSantis would mount a presidential campaign against him.

The DeSantis running for reelection this year isn't the same candidate who won in 2018 by only 33,000 votes. This round, DeSantis, 43, is expected to sail to reelection to the governorship in November and is widely considered to be a top contender for the presidency in 2024.

The governor has not said he's running for president and tends to brush off questions about it when he's asked. But political insiders assume he will run because he has raised an enormous amount of campaign cash and has been unafraid to insert himself into high-profile battles against the Biden administration.

He might have a shot at defeating Trump in a GOP primary. Earlier this month DeSantis beat Trump in a straw poll of self-identified conservative conference-goers at the Western Conservative Summit who were asked who they'd like to be the 2024 presidential nominee.

"The reality is that the Republican nominee in 2024 with either be Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis, with the caveat that Tucker Carlson would not enter the race," Sam Nunberg, who advised Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, told Insider in an interview Monday.

Carlson, a Fox News host, will be attending the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, in July. The event is considered a stomping ground for future presidential candidates, so it raised speculation about Carlson's political ambitions.

Trump announcement could be soon

Trump could easily wait until the middle or even end of 2023 to reveal his intentions to run for president and still have plenty of time to qualify for primary ballots and run a nationwide campaign.

But he might instead announce as early as July 4, according to NBC News. Most congressional Republicans would prefer that he wait until after the midterms so that they can keep their campaign messaging focused on President Joe Biden's low approval ratings and the prices on daily necessities that have surged under his watch. Otherwise, the races would become a referendum on Trump.

Meanwhile, DeSantis is grabbing tons of national headlines. He holds several press conferences a week in Florida, often answering questions from reporters on any topic they raise.

Lately he has been kicking off his events by hammering home talking points that bash the Biden administration's policies and taking a victory lap over his own actions in Florida to keep businesses and schools open during the coronavirus pandemic despite federal health guidance.

First Lady Casey DeSantis would like her husband to run in 2024, said The Washington Post reports, citing anonymous sources. Casey DeSantis, 41, who used to be a TV news host, is widely known among GOP circles to be her husband's top confidante.

The couple worries that if they don't strike while the iron is hot then they may miss DeSantis' political moment, according to The Post

DeSantis' appeal does appear to be growing outside Florida — and political insiders can't help but take notice.

Gunner Ramer, political director for the Republican Accountability Project, an anti-Trump organization that supports pro-Democracy Republicans, told Insider that DeSantis' name comes up the most during focus groups he does with GOP primary voters.

"I'd say they're DeSantis-curious," Ramer said, "but a majority support Donald Trump still."

Neither the DeSantis campaign nor Trump's post-presidency office immediately responded to questions about the 2024 race.