After initially being given no role at next week’s Republican National Convention, Ron DeSantis — the Florida governor and past rival of former President Donald Trump — has now been added to the speaking schedule.
“I will confirm a change in schedule that means he will now be speaking,” a source familiar with the decision who is helping plan convention activities told NBC News.
The source would not confirm which night of the convention DeSantis would speak. CNN first reported Tuesday that DeSantis would not have a speaking role.
A source close to DeSantis said they had never been told they would not be speaking at the convention.
“We have been told for a while we had a speaking slot and have never been told we do not,” the source said.
Trump — who can control RNC programing as much as he likes — and DeSantis have had an up-and-down relationship over the past few years.
The former president’s endorsement of DeSantis in 2018 helped him become Florida governor, but the two spent months attacking each other during the 2024 Republican primary, a race DeSantis got out of in January after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.
DeSantis has since pledged to tap into his donor network to help raise money for Trump’s campaign; a handful of events are being planned, the first of which was a July 5 event at the Jackson Hole, Wyo., home of retired Florida doctor Peter Lamelas and his wife, Stephanie. The couple has given more than $600,000 so far this election cycle, half of which has gone to the Republican National Committee. Peter gave another $100,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, Inc., a joint fundraising committee that has helped pay Trump’s legal bills.
DeSantis is also planning a September fundraiser in Texas to help, but there are not yet details available for the event. The money DeSantis raises for Trump will go to pro-Trump super PAC Right for America.
There is still no speaking slot for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was the final Republican to drop out of the GOP primary. She and Trump ran a bruising primary against each other, and when she got out of the primary said she would not “kiss the ring.”
But in May she confirmed she would be voting for Trump, and on Tuesday, Haley released her 97 delegates so they could support Trump at the convention.
That release, however, has not yet resulted in a role for her at the convention.
“No Haley as of now,” the source helping plan convention activities said.
Chaney Denton, a longtime senior aide to Haley, confirmed to NBC News that Haley “was not invited” to the convention and “she’s fine with that.”
“Trump deserves the convention he wants,” Denton said. “She’s made it clear she’s voting for him and wishes him the best.”
In 2016, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who finished second and third place in the Republican primary, were both given speaking slots at the convention where Trump was formally made the Republican nominee for president.
