In the poll, Trump led a hypothetical 2024 GOP field with 49 percent, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 25 percent. No other potential candidate — including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Vice President Mike Pence and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley — received double-digit support. Overall, nearly half of those who said they plan to vote in the 2024 Republican primary preferred a candidate other than Trump. (Sidebar: Joe Biden’s numbers on this question are even worse.) And among those who voted for Trump in 2020 and had a “very” favorable opinion of either candidate — essentially a measure of passion from the party’s base — Trump (46%) and DeSantis (44%) had nearly identical numbers. As the Times wrote about the poll numbers: “Research shows that Mr. Trump would not necessarily enter a primary with an insurmountable advantage over opponents like Mr. DeSandis. His share of the Republican primary electorate is smaller than Hillary Clinton’s share among Democrats at the start of the 2016 race, when she was seen as the inevitable front-runner but ultimately found herself embroiled in a protracted primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.” . Strongly Agree. Two other things are also worth considering:

  1. DeSantis ended May with more than $100 million in the bank for his 2022 re-election race, a staggering total for a governor seeking another term. As Politico reported Tuesday, DeSantis also recently held a rally for top donors and fellow governors with whom he is close — a move that should be seen through the lens of 2024.2. A recent poll from the University of New Hampshire showed DeSantis at 39 percent to Trump’s 37 percent in the state’s Republican primary — a virtual deadlock that marked a huge shift from an October 2021 poll in which Trump led DeSantis 43% to 18%. To be clear: If Trump is nominated (and there’s every reason to believe he will be), he’s still the front-runner to be the Republican nominee.
    But the race no longer looks like a detour for Trump. The point: There’s a reason Trump is getting angry about getting into the 2024 race. He sees DeSantis making up ground — and fast.