Steve Bannon has described Ron DeSantis' recent world tour, which saw the Florida governor visit stanch U.S. allies Israel, Japan, South Korea and Britain, as "humiliating."
Trump's former White House chief strategist made the comment during a monologue on his War Room podcast, which was broadcast on right-wing network Real America's Voice.
DeSantis is widely believed to be weighing up a possible 2024 presidential bid, with polling indicating he is the second most popular choice with Republican voters, after Donald Trump. It is common for perspective presidential candidates to embark on trips abroad, in a bid to garnish their foreign policy credentials.
Addressing DeSantis, Bannon commented: "They sent you on what was a humiliating tour of the world. South Korea, Japan, Israel. Then this humiliation in England where the prime minister would not meet with you. And you had this meeting with the top people in the financial community and the top corporations in London, what's called the City of London, it was humiliating.
"The political story was a humiliation to you. You're just not ready for the scale you need to be ready for."
During his trip to the U.K., DeSantis didn't meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, though he was greeted by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
DeSantis also met with leading figures in the British business community, though according to Politico, several were damning of the Florida Republican's performance, describing him as "low wattage" and "horrendous," with one commenting: "There wasn't any stardust."
In Israel, DeSantis claimed he had worked to "cajole" Trump to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which his administration announced in October 2018.
The comment sparked a furious response from Trump, who hit back on his Truth Social website.
Trump said: "DeSanctimonious had nothing to do with Israel or the moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Never so much as mentioned it to me—It was the last thing on his mind.
"DeSanctus wasn't even Governor yet (It was December 6, 2017), and I barely knew him—He has turned out to be a total flameout! This is the kind of disinformation I thought only the Democrats would put out. No wonder DeSanctus is dropping like a rock in the Polls. Terrible!"
Newsweek has contacted DeSantis for comment by email.
Trump's bid to win re-election to the White House in 2024 has been complicated by a number of legal battles. The former president has been charged with falsifying business records related to the alleged payment of hush money to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels, which he denies.
He is also facing a civil case from writer E. Jean Carroll, who claims Trump raped her during the 1990s in a New York department store, though he rejects the allegation, which the Republican frontrunner insists "never happened."
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About the writer
James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
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