佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯，预计谁将发起2024年总统竞选在接下来的几个月里，他将于本周前往海外执行国际贸易任务。
德桑蒂斯将率领佛罗里达州代表团访问以色列、日本、韩国和英国，会见政府和商界领袖。
此行被一些盟友视为在可能的总统选举之前扩大他的外交政策的努力总统竞选启动到今年夏天。
州长办公室在一份声明中说新闻稿周四，他表示此行的重点将是建立佛罗里达目前与每个国家的经济关系。
在日本，德桑蒂斯将会见日本首相岸田文雄和外相林义正。在韩国，知事将会见京畿道知事金东延和总理韩德洙。
在以色列期间，德桑蒂斯将在周四举行的以色列建国75周年纪念活动上发表主旨演讲。内塔尼亚胡在哥伦比亚广播公司的“面对国家”节目中说，他还将于周四会见总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡
在英国，德桑蒂斯将会见外交部长詹姆斯·克里弗利。
他的妻子凯西、佛罗里达州国务卿科德·伯德和佛罗里达州商务部长劳拉·迪贝拉将与他一同出访。
2023年3月30日，星期四，佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯在佐治亚州士麦那的冒险户外枪支商店向人群发表讲话。
约翰·巴兹莫尔/美联社
共和党政治战略家、支持德桑蒂斯的超级政治行动委员会(super PAC Ron to the Rescue)创始人约翰·托马斯告诉美国广播公司(ABC)新闻，他相信这次旅行将打磨德桑蒂斯的外交政策诚意。
托马斯说:“(德桑蒂斯)作为一名海军军官，确实有外交政策方面的履历背景，但没有什么能取代握手、拍照、亲临现场以及说出你与某些世界领导人的关系。”
托马斯说:“椭圆形办公室的任何主要候选人都需要检查[外交政策]框，提高他们的资历，以便他们在竞选活动和辩论阶段传递最终外交政策信息时具有可信度，这是德桑蒂斯州长这样做的第一步。”。
德桑蒂斯是共和党内一位受欢迎但有争议的领导人，他因最近关于国际问题的一些言论而受到审查。
一个多月前，他最初将俄罗斯入侵乌克兰称为“领土争端”，并表示这场战争不符合美国的国家利益。
这些评论遭到了共和党其他领导成员的强烈反对。
南卡罗来纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆发微博含蓄的指责:“对于那些认为俄罗斯无缘无故、野蛮入侵乌克兰不是美国优先考虑的事情的人，你们错过了很多。”
佛罗里达州参议员马尔科·卢比奥也批评了他所在州的州长，他在一次电台采访中说，“显然，作为州长，他没有每天处理外交政策。”
德桑蒂斯后来表示，他的话被“误解了”，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京是一名“战犯”
DeSantis heads abroad to Israel, UK and more before expected 2024 presidential run
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis,who is expected to launch a 2024 presidential campaignin the coming months, will travel overseas this week on an international trade mission.
DeSantis will lead a Florida delegation to Israel, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. to meet with government and business leaders.
The trip is seen by some allies as an effort to expand his foreign policy chops ahead of a likelypresidential campaign launchby this summer.
The governor's office said in anews releaseon Thursday that the trip would focus on building upon Florida's current economic relationships with each country.
In Japan, DeSantis will meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. In South Korea, the governor will meet with the Gyeonggi Province governor, Kim Dong-yeon, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
While in Israel, DeSantis will deliver the keynote address at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the country's founding, on Thursday. He'll also meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Netanyahu said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
And in the U.K., DeSantis will meet with Foreign Minister James Cleverly.
He will be joined on the trip by his wife, Casey, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Florida Secretary of Commerce Laura DiBella.
John Thomas, a GOP political strategist and the founder of the pro-DeSantis super PAC Ron to the Rescue, told ABC News that he believes the travel will burnish DeSantis' foreign policy bona fides.
"[DeSantis] does have a biographical background in foreign policy as a naval officer, but there is no replacement for shaking hands, having the photo-op, being on the ground and being able to name drop that you have relationships with certain world leaders," Thomas said.
"Any major candidate for the Oval Office needs to check that [foreign policy] box and improve their credentials so that they have credibility when they're delivering their eventual foreign policy message on the campaign trail and on the debate stage, and this is the first step for Gov. DeSantis to do just that," Thomas said.
DeSantis, a popular if controversial leader in the GOP, has drawn scrutiny for some of his recent remarks about international issues.
His travel abroad will come just over a month after he initially called Russia's invasion of Ukraine a "territorial dispute" and said the war was not of national interest for the United States.
Those comments received backlash from other leading members of the GOP.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Grahamtweeteda veiled rebuke: "To those who believe that Russia's unprovoked and barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not a priority for the United States – you are missing a lot."
And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also criticized the governor of his state, saying in a radio interview, "Obviously, he doesn't deal with foreign policy every day as governor."
DeSantis later said that his words were "mischaracterized" and that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "war criminal."
