Donald Trump’s dig at Ron DeSantis over Disney wasn’t a random attack

There are risks to going after DeSantis over Disney. His retaliation over the company’s opposition to a bill restricting discussion of topics around gender identity and sexuality in schools has earned him folk hero status with many social conservatives.

But there’s also likely a reason Trump’s campaign is so interested in telling a new version of the story around Disney and making it stick. It’s a central part of DeSantis’ self-styled reputation as a more ambitious and effective leader than Trump on issues that excite the MAGA base, an argument that’s expected to play a major role in any campaign against the former president. DeSantis’ emphasis on his election victories, as well as his early criticism of Trump for failing to rein in federal guidance on COVID-19, all fit this theme as well.

The Trump campaign is hoping they can reframe DeSantis’ Disney fight as a failure on its own terms, rather than litigate the company’s underlying behavior. The “main precursor” to Trump’s focus on the Disney fight, one person close to Trump said, came back in March, when Disney used a legal maneuver to retain influence over the area around the park that the state hoped to reassign to their own board. In that moment, his team began to see a clear path take shape to go after DeSantis.

“This isn’t about defending Disney,” a person close to Trump said. “This is about DeSantis’s lack of strength in preventing Disney from doing this.”

Some members of Trump’s team have also pointed to DeSantis’s recent half-joking proposal to put up a prison next door to the theme park as evidence that the Florida governor’s fight has gotten out of hand, and raised questions on how DeSantis’ escalations could affect everyday taxpayers and other Florida businesses, something Trump himself has brought up.

But the whole line of attack fits the campaign’s number one priority right now: Kneecapping DeSantis before he’s even officially a candidate by defining his brand early on.

“Operatives who are familiar with how a ‘crib kill’ strategy works recognize this Disney message is being tested and it will get a harder push if it works,” Michael Caputo, a close Trump ally who previously worked in his administration, said. “You’ll probably see digital and direct mail targeting Florida Republican primary voters.”

In general, DeSantis’ allies have tried to make Trump pay for what they argued was taking Disney’s side in a culture war over how children are exposed to these topics.

“It’s sad but unsurprising that Trump is now part of the DC establishment he once opposed. DeSantis is putting Florida first,” Erin Perrine, communications director for the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down, told Semafor. “The people of Florida overwhelmingly support his courage to stand up to woke corporations, like Disney, as shown by his landslide re-election win. Disney is trying to overrun the will of the people and Donald Trump is encouraging their woke behavior, but DeSantis never backs down.”

There’s also reason to believe that the Disney story is still a political asset for DeSantis. A Reuters-Ipsos poll released in April found that 44% of Republicans viewed the governor more favorably after his battle with the company, versus 19% who said they liked him less.

Weighing in on the Disney fight, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board warned that “nobody emerges from this looking good.” The board argued that Trump should “be critical of Disney’s woke turn” and suggested his remarks against DeSantis proved that “his only abiding political conviction is personal advantage.”