“People are voting with their feet very consistently,” the Florida governor said, noting that many Americans are moving to his state while some Democratic-led jurisdictions are seeing their populations decline. He didn’t just talk about Florida – he criticized Chicago with all his might.

“Chicago used to be one of the great cities in America. He had huge problems, and it really needs to move in a different direction,” DeSantis said. He mentioned the Liberal candidate’s victory in this month’s mayoral race, arguing that the city has chosen someone who “will continue to move in the same bad direction at an accelerated pace.”

For those who follow DeSantis closely, it was a familiar talking point as he makes moves to enter the Republican presidential race against Donald Trump and others, and it has heightened the domestic political overtones of his international trip this week. Japan was DeSantis’ first stop on an “international trade mission” in Florida that gives the governor a chance to boost his foreign policy profile ahead of the presidential election.

Despite the fact that his department viewed the trip as a narrow matter of the state, questions about his political future were inevitable.

“Governor, the polls show you are trailing Trump. Any thoughts on this?” asked a reporter in Tokyo.

“I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if that changes and when,” DeSantis said. saidlooking upset, eyes wide open, ready for memes. The clip drew derision from critics and millions of views online, eclipsing his commentary on international affairs.

The Trump team lashed out at him, with adviser Jason Miller sharing a GIF and the former president delivering his latest statement criticizing DeSantis’ efforts to “wipe the stain off his failed campaign.”

A spokesman for the governor’s office said political investigations were not within their remit, and representatives of DeSantis’ political team did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite the adage that “politics stops at the water’s edge” – the idea that American leaders should speak with one voice abroad – the governor has struck at his usual political targets in the United States, from liberal cities to President Biden.

“Just walking around Tokyo, I don’t think I’ve seen a single piece of garbage anywhere,” DeSantis said later during his visit to Japan, according to the Wall Street Journal. In Florida, he says, “we’re doing a pretty good job, but there are other states, some other cities in other parts of the United States, that could learn a thing or two.”

In the past, discussing such a policy while on an international trip may have been frowned upon, said Robert Lieber. author and Distinguished Professor of Government and International Relations at Georgetown. “But now we have entered a new game,” he said, “and many rules of political etiquette have been lost.”

He added that foreign policy, like all other American politics, has become more polarized.

Past presidential candidates and their teams used trips abroad to create a contrast with their rivals – including the incumbent president at the time – in foreign policy.

In 2015, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called President Barack Obama is an ineffective negotiator during a trip to the UK. In 2012 Vice President Joe Biden reproached Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) after his advisers criticized the Obama administration’s approach to the UK, speaking on condition of anonymity as the Romney campaign “asked not to criticize the president in foreign media”, as the Telegraph put it.

DeSantis was also critical of Biden this week, joining Japan’s Fox News anchor Sean Hannity to sound the alarm about China. He began his trip to Asia at a time when many politicians were focusing on China as the biggest threat to the United States, and many contenders for victory in 2024 were trying to take the hardest line on Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“They’re flexing their muscles and I think the fact that Biden was very weak on the world stage encourages them to do even more,” DeSantis said. Hannity saidhighlighting how he used the trip to inform local audiences.

Erin Perrin, director of communications for DeSantis supporters, super-PAK Never Back Down, also held a direct opposite to the president, saying that DeSantis “continues to show exceptional, strong leadership, including on the global stage,” while Biden ” made America weaker, led the shameful and deadly withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and provoked aggression from China and Russia.”

The White House declined to comment on Perrin’s assessment.

DeSantis is expected to announce his run for the presidency soon when the Florida legislature closes in May. Polling suggests he will enter the race as the closest challenger to Trump, who has already focused his attacks on the Florida governor.

But DeSantis has spoken very little publicly about his views for 2024, and Trump has only solidified his status in the polls in recent weeks, even as he faces greater legal danger.

South Korea is next in line for DeSantis, followed by Israel and the UK.

DeSantis’ comments about foreign policy, where he has less experience than some other presidential contenders, are controversial. This year, he received several rebukes from both Democrats and Republicans after calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “territorial dispute” not critical to American interests – a comment he later tried to clear up and said he was “mischaracterized”.

He has since made it clear that he views potential Chinese aggression very differently from Russian aggression.

“I think they are much more powerful than [President Vladimir] Putin and Russia are like that, and they really pose the biggest threat to our ability to lead since the Soviet Union,” DeSantis said in an interview with conservative commentator Piers Morgan. in March.