Florida won’t help with any Trump extradition request, Gov. DeSantis says

ORLANDO, Fla. – Should New York ask Florida for help in bringing former President Donald Trump in after his indictment, the state will not assist with that extradition request, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday after the news that a grand jury voted to indict the former president.

“Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” DeSantis tweeted in a statement.

Trump was expected to surrender to authorities next week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss a matter that remained under seal.

New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation centered on money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, whom he feared would go public with claims that they had extramarital sexual encounters with him.

A simmering rivalry has grown between Trump and DeSantis, who is expected to announce a presidential run and would be a Republican rival for Trump on the campaign trail. While Trump has jabbed at DeSantis, and DeSantis has made some small jabs here and there, DeSantis has supported the president against the grand jury investigation.

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“I hope it doesn’t come to where you end up seeing this going forward,” DeSantis said in an interview with Piers Morgan, without mentioning Trump by name. “People see that as weaponizing the justice system. So I think it’s fundamentally wrong to do that.”

In his statement on Twitter Thursday night, DeSantis called the grand jury indictment “unAmerican.”

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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