Monday, September 28, 2026
Vol. VIII
Est. 2019

The Mind Shield

News · Opinion · Politics · Analysis

Trump melts down over report MAGA candidate removes mentions of him from website.

Trump melts down over report MAGA candidate removes mentions of him from website.
Donald Trump and Rep. Byron Donalds. Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Donald Trump lashed out on Saturday at reports that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) is distancing himself from him as he runs for governor of Florida.

In a post on his Truth Social app, Trump slams the report that Donalds scrubbed prominent references to him from his website as “fake news,” insisting that he is popular in the Sunshine State even as polls regularly show he is underwater.

“Another Fake Story is that a very close friend of mine, a man I endorsed very early, Byron Donalds, is taking me off his website and Campaign materials,” Trump wrote. “I won Florida by Millions of Votes, getting the Highest Vote Tally in History — Three times! My numbers are better now than they were at the Election.”

Donald Trump Truth Social post. Photo: Screenshot

Despite Trump’s denial, evidence is clear that Donalds’ campaign page has been revamped to make fewer references to the increasingly unpopular president.

The homepage of Donalds’ campaign website noted several times that he was endorsed by Trump, and it featured a photo of him and Trump giving thumbs-up signs to the camera, according to an archived version of the site from earlier this month. The website also had a banner that encouraged supporters to “chip in to support Trump Endorsed Byron Donalds.”

The homepage of the revamped site now opens with the slogan, “Fighting to defend the Florida dream,” with a scrolling list of endorsements below, including that of Trump.

Before-and-after image of Rep. Byron Donalds’ campaign website. Photo: CBS News

The Miami Herald also reported that the ‘issues page,’ led by a promise to “Enact the Trump Agenda,” was replaced with the slogan: “Accountable, Achievable, Affordable!”

At the Sunshine Economy Summit, Donalds said his campaign has “been working on website changes for, like, two months now.” He added that the changes aren’t an attempt to distance himself from Trump but instead are meant to reinforce the campaign’s key policy on issues like affordability.

“These are the issues we talk about every day on the campaign trail,” he said. For the general election, the voters of Florida want to know the policies you’re going to implement to make their lives better. And so, we wanted to make sure that the website fully reflected the vision and the policies for the future of Florida.”

The move comes as several Republican candidates in key battleground states have tried to distance themselves from Trump as he becomes more unpopular due to increased living costs and the ongoing war in Iran.