Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his bid to run for president in mid-May, said a report on Thursday.

Citing Republican sources familiar with the conversations, NBC News reported that the official launch would be coming soon.

Some of his supporters urged him to announce his bid for the White House in mid-May.

DeSantis is viewed as former President Donald Trump’s strongest Republican challenger.

Trump has recently discouraged DeSantis from launching a White House bid in 2024.

"Ron DeSantis is a young man who is not doing well against me in the polls, to put it mildly,” Trump said on his social media platform on April 10.

"I believe that if he decides to run for President, which will only hurt and somewhat divide the Republican Party, he will lose the cherished and massive MAGA vote, and never be able to successfully run for office again."

Several Republican candidates have entered the presidential race, including Trump, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and millionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, President Joe Biden is running for re-election. Other Democratic candidates who have announced their bids for the presidency are Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Anadolu Agency)