Biden heads to Florida to survey storm damage, no DeSantis meeting set

U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Florida on Saturday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Idalia and comfort people affected by the storm, but he will not be meeting Ron DeSantis, the state's Republican governor and a potential presidential rival. Biden, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday he would see the governor during the trip, but DeSantis's spokesman Jeremy Redfern said later that no meeting was planned and "the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts." DeSantis, 44, is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to oust Biden from the White House but trails former President Donald Trump in polls.