IN-DEPTH: DeSantis and Youngkin Overseas Trips Fuel 2024 Speculation

The race for the 2024 presidential election is heating up, and two Republican governors are making headlines with their overseas tours. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, while Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei. Both leaders are visiting South Korea and Japan before returning home, a strategic move to boost their foreign affairs resumes and address the growing threat from the Chinese Communist Party.

Former President Donald Trump, who is considered the dominant candidate for the Republican primary, has been attacking DeSantis in recent polls. Trump has labeled him as “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Meatball Ron” in social media assaults, speeches, and paid ads. However, DeSantis remains undeterred and has been running a non-campaign campaign, traveling to early primary states and promoting his recently published best-seller, “The Courage to be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.”

Youngkin, on the other hand, has not denied his presidential ambitions but has not directly addressed questions about 2024. He has been focusing on flipping the Democrat-controlled state legislature red in elections this fall. With his two 2021 campaign managers recently signed onto DeSantis’ Never Back Down PAC, it doesn’t appear that Youngkin is preparing to launch a campaign anytime soon.

Both governors have been touting their military ties and addressing the importance of U.S. military alliances with western Pacific democracies in the face of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) military expansion and North Korea’s nuclear weapons provocations. Youngkin’s meeting with Tsai comes amid rising tensions between the United States and the PRC over China’s actions in the South China Sea and threats to invade Taiwan.

As the race for the 2024 presidential election heats up, all eyes are on these two Republican governors and their strategic moves to boost their foreign affairs resumes and address the growing threat from the Chinese Communist Party.