Ron DeSantis Has Not Decided on a 2028 Presidential Run

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has not made a final decision on whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, according to sources cited by ABC News. The sources told the network that DeSantis is keeping the door open rather than ruling out a run.

Has Ron DeSantis decided on a 2028 run?

No. ABC News reported that people familiar with DeSantis's thinking say he has not settled on whether to enter the 2028 race, even as he keeps the option available. The report does not specify a timeline for when DeSantis might announce a decision, and the sources did not describe what factors are weighing most heavily on his deliberations, according to ABC News.

DeSantis, who ran for the Republican nomination in the 2024 cycle before exiting that race, would face a different political environment in 2028. ABC News did not report any formal steps — such as fundraising or staff hires — that would indicate DeSantis has moved beyond weighing the idea.

What has DeSantis said about the midterms?

In the days surrounding the 2026 midterms, DeSantis increased his media appearances and used them to reflect on what went wrong for the Republican Party, according to ABC News. The report frames this uptick in visibility as part of DeSantis's broader post-election posture rather than a campaign launch.

The source material reviewed by HTT News does not include direct quotes from DeSantis about the midterm results, and no on-the-record assessment from him of specific causes was available in the reporting.

How did Republicans perform in the midterm Senate races?

ABC News's live election tracker, linked to the same report, showed Democrats projected to hold 54 Senate seats to Republicans' 44 once the 2026 midterm results were tallied, with the network describing the outcome as Democrats gaining control of the chamber. That shift provides the backdrop for the comments DeSantis has been making about the party's midterm performance, according to the report.

The tracker listed individual Senate contests still being counted in states including Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Maine, Mississippi and Alaska at the time of ABC News's report, with vote totals continuing to update as counting proceeded. ABC News did not attribute specific causes for the overall Senate outcome to any single factor, and the network's report on DeSantis does not draw a direct line between the chamber results and his deliberations over 2028.

What else is happening around the DeSantis speculation?

The DeSantis report surfaced the same week President Trump named Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff, according to HTT News. That appointment is a separate personnel move inside the administration and was not tied by ABC News's sources to DeSantis's 2028 calculus, but it illustrates the broader reshuffling of Republican political figures taking place in the immediate aftermath of the midterms.

Separately, Wall Street strategists described the stock selloff that followed the midterm results as a buying opportunity rather than a signal of deeper economic trouble, HTT News reported. That assessment speaks to market reaction to the election outcome, not to any specific candidate's plans, and ABC News's report on DeSantis does not reference market conditions as a factor in his thinking.

What happens next for DeSantis and the 2028 field?

ABC News's sources did not give a date for when DeSantis might resolve his decision, and the network's report treats the governor's current posture — frequent media appearances combined with no formal declaration — as the clearest available signal of where things stand. Any change in that posture, such as new fundraising activity, staff announcements or a public statement from DeSantis himself, would mark a shift from what sources described to ABC News.

For now, the reporting leaves open two possibilities that are not mutually exclusive: that DeSantis is genuinely undecided, or that he is deliberately keeping his options public while he assesses the political landscape coming out of the midterms. ABC News's report supports the first characterization directly; it does not address the second.

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