Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, will embark on a trip to Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the United Kingdom on Saturday.
While the trip is officially billed as a trade mission, it is widely perceived as an attempt to bolster his foreign policy credentials ahead of an official announcement, which is expected in late spring or early summer.
The governor stated in March that the Ukraine War is a “territorial dispute” that is not of strategic interest to the US, a position he has since partially reversed.
. Those remarks drew criticism from Democrats and many Republicans, despite the fact that he agrees with roughly half of the party’s base as well as Republican former President Donald Trump.
During his visit to Japan on April 24 and 25, DeSantis will meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. He will then travel to Seoul to meet with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, before continuing to Tel Aviv and London to meet with a variety of government and business leaders.
Back in Florida, there are signs that he is putting together a foreign policy apparatus. According to one source familiar with the situation, his political operation is in the process of hiring Dustin Carmack, a cybersecurity and intelligence expert with significant foreign policy experience.
DeSantis visited Washington earlier this week to meet with Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. Shortly after his visit, several Florida representatives endorsed Trump, dealing a blow to the governor. On Friday, DeSantis will speak at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, a major think tank.
