A high-profile Republican gubernatorial candidate seems to be distancing himself from President Donald J. Trump, the latest in a trickle of pre-midterm defections from the MAGA leader.
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds who is running to replace term-limited Ron DeSantis as the Sunshine State’s governor has quietly updated his campaign website to omit nearly all references to Trump, who has endorsed him.
In news first reported by the Miami Herald, Donalds has launched an updated website “stripping away numerous prominent references to his endorsement from Donald Trump as the president’s approval ratings hit new lows.”
Screenshots of the prior version and the current website have been posted to social media.
Byron Donalds’ campaign updated his website this week stripping away numerous references to Trump’s endorsement, removing his photo with the president and taking “enact the Trump agenda” off his issues pagehttps://t.co/U3sSqlAxoA pic.twitter.com/ga0F3E3Dp4
— Claire Heddles (@claireheddles) September 22, 2026
“Donalds’ campaign website was previously dominated by references his Trump endorsement. A button to ‘Chip in to Support Trump Endorsed Byron Donalds’ was at the top of the homepage. ‘TRUMP-ENDORSED Proven Conservative Fighter. BYRON DONALDS’ was the page’s main text,” according to the Herald.
“A yellow banner reading ‘ENDORSED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP!’ marked the middle of the homepage and a prominent section quoting Trump’s 2025 endorsement said ‘RUN, BYRON, RUN!’” the paper reported. “All of those mentions were stripped away from his updated website.”
According to the paper, a photo of the candidate and his wife posing with Trump has also been removed with the prized endorsement now relegated to one in “a rolling banner of conservative endorsements from others including Elon Musk, Sen. Rick Scott, Speaker Mike Johnson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Charlie Kirk and others, with no outsize prominence on the website’s homepage.”
“Trump’s endorsement and Donalds’ photo with the president is now featured on a separate endorsements landing page instead,” the paper reported.
The report comes amid some polls that show Democrat David Jolly eating into Donalds’ lead in a race that he was expected to easily dominate given the complete crushing of the Florida Democratic Party during the DeSantis era.
Trump critics pounced on the report with Lincoln Project sleazeball Rick Wilson trying to stir up trouble between the president and the candidate.
Wow, are you gonna take that laying down, @realDonaldTrump?
Byron Donalds just shit all over you. Total disrespect.
He would be nothing without you, Donald… I remember when he called you “daddy” but now by Donalds thinks you’re a liability.
Sad! Weak! Low-T! https://t.co/qMMlzV2qDl
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 22, 2026
The report comes amid an increasingly ugly public mood as gas and diesel prices spike toward record levels with anger over Trump’s Iran war growing by the day. Not a positive environment for Republican candidates who are breaking with the president on key issues in the weeks before voters head to the polls.
Last week, another Florida Republican came out against Trump’s deportation policies in an ad urging him to dial down the rounding up of illegal aliens.
A Message to President Trump on Immigration | María Elvira Salazar pic.twitter.com/memcf4jags
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) September 17, 2026
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. In July, 50 percent of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisors are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) said in the 30 second spot that she posted to social media.
“Our campaign website reflects Byron’s focus on the issues that matter most to Floridians — affordability, insurance costs, and government transparency,” a Donalds campaign spokesperson told the Herald. “He’s running to be the next Governor of Florida, is proud to have President Trump’s endorsement, and has real policy proposals to tackle those issues. Meanwhile, David Jolly is all sound bites, no depth, and no policy.”
“President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party,” White House spox Davis Ingle told CNN, not directly addressing Donalds’ updated website.
“Byron Donalds will be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote in a May 26 post to Truth Social championing Donalds’ candidacy.
- Trump takes a flamethrower to CNN’s Collins after testy U.N. exchange - September 23, 2026
- Trump-endorsed GOP gubernatorial hopeful reportedly scrubs POTUS from his campaign website - September 23, 2026
- Charlamagne tha God wildly suggests Trump could nuke Iran for the midterms - September 22, 2026
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