While many polls have Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis locked up, Trump typically is able to maintain a lead, as Real Clear Politics has Trump leading by 15.6% over DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pense, Nikki Haley, and a handful of other potential candidates.
| RCP Average | 1/19 – 2/16 | 45.6 | 30.2 | 6.4 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.0 | Trump +15.4 |
| Harvard-Harris | 2/15 – 2/16 | 46 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Trump +23 |
| Quinnipiac | 2/9 – 2/14 | 42 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | 2 | 1 | Trump +6 |
| Reuters/Ipsos | 2/6 – 2/13 | 43 | 31 | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | Trump +12 |
| Economist/YouGov | 2/4 – 2/7 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 5 | — | 3 | 3 | — | Trump +10 |
| Emerson | 1/19 – 1/21 | 55 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | — | Trump +26 |
Currently, Trump and DeSantis are the only presumptive candidates polling in the double digits, and Trump, according to Real Clear Politics’ average across multiple polls, has managed to work himself into a good position going into 2024. While Trump has already announced that he’ll be running in the 2024 U.S. Presidental election, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has still not formally announced his campaign, however, it’s being widely assumed that come 2024 he’ll be in the race.
While polls such as Quinnipiac’s have Trump and DeSantis within just a few points of one another, most are showing a large difference between the two, averaging out to become a very comfortable lead for the former President.
It’s no doubt that Trump’s appearance in East Palestine, Ohio on Wednesday helped his polling numbers, as Trump beat President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to the scene of the catastrophic train derailment and showed that the former President cares about the American people more than those who currently hold office.
