“The fear factor is gone for a lot of consultants and some politicians who otherwise were worried about crossing him,” said one top Republican consultant who, nonetheless, didn’t want to publicly cross Trump and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump’s political operation listens to the whispers and monitors his potential opponents, and they say the former president is ready to take on all comers.

“My belief is they’re all going to run, and a big reason they’re running is based on the fact that if Mike Pence can run, we can all run,” said Tony Fabrizio, one of Trump’s pollsters. “What’s the loyalty argument if your vice president is running against you for president?”…

DeSantis has amassed a $124 million war chest for his re-election campaign while Trump, who began this year with $122 million cash on hand across his political action committees, has watched his one-time understudy with a measure of resentment and nervousness, said one Republican who recently spoke to the former president but did not want to publicly describe private conversations with him.

“It would be a lie to say he’s not watching DeSantis and that DeSantis might be a big reason Trump announces early,” the Republican said. “Don’t get me wrong, if Ron thinks he can beat Trump, he’s wrong.”