Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes state plane out west, pushing constitutional change and, critics say, seeking spotlight

Steven Lemongello, Orlando Sentinel on Mar 24, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Idaho and Montana on Monday, his first major public swing through other states in more than a year as he attempts to maintain his national profile in advance of a potential second run for the presidency in 2028.

Just like his trip to Indiana and South Carolina in February 2024, he flew out of Tallahassee on the state plane in the middle of an ongoing legislative session.

Both times, his official reason for travel was to lobby other governors to join him in trying to amend the U.S. Constitution through a constitutional convention — which has never happened since the Constitution was ratified in 1787.

Monday’s events were about a proposed balanced budget amendment, which DeSantis said was needed because of the increasing national debt. Though he and other GOP governors have praised President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the controversial DOGE group, they say Congress needs a new rule to keep federal spending in check.

“At what point is this just going to break our country?” DeSantis said in Idaho.

The 2024 trip, in which DeSantis pushed for congressional term limits, was made just weeks after he dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Trump. It was part of a whirlwind series of events in the wake of his failed bid that kept DeSantis in the news, including sending 1,000 more Florida National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico.

Then and now, critics were quick to say the governor was wasting taxpayer money.

“Floridians are being crushed by Ron DeSantis’ affordability crisis while the lame duck Governor charges his constituents to fly around the country on the state’s taxpayer-funded private jet to prop up his failed ambitions for higher office,” said Anders Croy, director of DeSantis Watch, a project of Florida Watch and the progressive group Progress Florida, in a statement on Monday.

“All the Governor has to offer is a rambling road show of lectures to the same Americans who rejected his unique brand of awkward weirdness during his disastrous run for president,” Croy said.

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

In part because of his lackluster previous run, DeSantis stands far behind Vice President J. D. Vance in early polls for the 2028 race, and behind even Donald Trump Jr. in some. Moreover, he would run again without the power of incumbency behind him, since he must leave Florida’s top political post because of term limits in two years. Still, those who know and watch DeSantis have little doubt that he longs to try again.

Since DeSantis ended his 2024 presidential campaign, his biggest moments on the national scene stemmed from the possibility he might be tapped as Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee if Pete Hegseth dropped out. Speculation that his wife Casey will run for governor in 2026 has also prompted national news.

DeSantis’ travel records are now shielded from public scrutiny due to a law he signed in 2023, but the state plane has been tracked online by the “DesantisJet” account on social media, created by University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney.

The account indicated the state plane took off from Tallahassee shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday and landed in Boise, Idaho, about five hours later, using an estimated $5,803 worth of fuel on the outward trip.

The plane took off just after 1 p.m. Monday for a 41-minute flight to Montana, where he was scheduled to meet with Gov.Greg Gianforte.

DeSantis had just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., on the state plane over the weekend, where he met with Musk and attended the National Review Institutes 2025 Ideas Summit. He also flew to Washington in February for the National Governors Association meeting.

The governor flew the state plane to South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut in February, according to DeSantisJet, the latter two trips for appearances at Federalist Society events.

His focus in Idaho Monday was to push Idaho and Montana to join 27 other states in backing an amendment to require a balanced federal budget. Thirty-four would be required to trigger a convention of states.

“If Idaho and Montana join the fight, that gets us to 29,” DeSantis said alongside Idaho Gov. Brad Little. “I think if you got to 33 states, I think Congress would see the writing on the wall and I think they would rush to write an amendment that they would then pass and then send to the states for ratification.”

The budget recently passed by congressional Republicans, he said, forecast the debt to reach $56 trillion by 2035.

“I am convinced that you are not going to have Congress all of a sudden change its behavior for the long term,” he said.

DeSantis also praised Idaho for having “a lot of commonality with Florida” when it came to policies, including instituting the death penalty for child rapists. Idaho’s anti-abortion laws are some of the strictest in the country, beyond even Florida’s 6-week ban, including making it illegal to assist in a pregnant minor getting an out-of-state abortion.

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