Nearly six months ago, Kenneth Griffin, the Republican megadonor and hedge fund executive, seemed poised to be a powerful financial backer of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in his anticipated run for president.

Griffin had given $5 million to DeSantis’ reelection effort, and he told Politico that while DeSantis was not yet a White House candidate, “he has a tremendous record as governor of Florida, and our country would be well served by him as president.”

These days, Griffin is keeping his cards closer to the vest, and his intentions are harder to discern. A person familiar with his thinking, noting that DeSantis had not yet made his run official, said Griffin was still evaluating the Republican primary race as it unfolded.

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The financier and DeSantis met in Florida in the last two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting, which came as Griffin has taken issue in private conversations with some of DeSantis’ policy moves and pronouncements. In particular, the two people said, Griffin was deeply troubled by DeSantis’ statements that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “territorial dispute” — a remark he later tried to clarify — and that the war was not a vital U.S. interest.

Griffin, who has made clear that he wants to move on from former President Donald Trump, was also disconcerted by a six-week abortion ban in Florida that DeSantis recently signed, according to the people familiar with Griffin’s thinking, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. Last year, Griffin moved his hedge fund, Citadel, to Miami from Chicago, citing crime concerns.

The meeting between the governor and Griffin was, for the most part, one on one, without staff members, one of the people briefed on it said, and it was one of their few direct interactions. Reading Griffin’s intentions after the meeting has been difficult for some people close to him.

One person predicted the financier was still likely to donate to DeSantis once he made his candidacy official, which could happen as early as next month. But the person said Griffin might also give to other candidates who seemed able to defeat Trump.

In a statement, Zia Ahmed, a spokesperson for Griffin, ticked off DeSantis’ “many accomplishments” and mentioned job creation, “increasing the number of quality school options, and prioritizing the safety of our communities.”

He went on, “Ken may not agree with all of the governor’s policies, but he appreciates all that the governor has done to make Florida one of the most attractive states to live and work in America.”

But Ahmed declined to address what Griffin thought about the presidential race. A spokesperson for DeSantis declined to comment.

What Griffin does is being closely watched, after word spread of his unhappiness about how DeSantis had comported himself early this year.

DeSantis’ supporters say there is still a broad appetite — in the donor community and among prospective voters — for a viable Republican alternative to Trump.

“The money has walked,” said Roy Bailey, a Dallas business owner and longtime Republican fundraiser for Trump. “From my conversations with a lot of people from around the country, it has moved to DeSantis. It is a cold, hard fact.”

Bailey disputed the idea that momentum had shifted away from DeSantis recently.

In the first two weeks of May, DeSantis is set to host a series of small dinners with major donors and supporters from across the country at the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, according to two people with knowledge of his plans.

If DeSantis enters the presidential race as expected, he will be armed with a well-funded super PAC, Never Back Down, which said this month that it had raised $30 million in its first few weeks of fundraising.

Two-thirds of that money, $20 million, came from a single donor, the Nevada hotel magnate Robert Bigelow, Time magazine reported.

In private conversations, DeSantis’ associates have indicated that they have $100 million in commitments to the super PAC, along with roughly $82 million in a Florida committee that will probably be transferred to Never Back Down.

Still, some donors who had hoped DeSantis could stop Trump have cooled their enthusiasm.

Thomas Peterffy, a prominent conservative donor, also cited Florida’s abortion law in explaining why he was withholding support from DeSantis for now. Peterffy had supported DeSantis in his state campaigns, and according to one person familiar with the event, hosted DeSantis at his house early in his first term as governor. But Peterffy told The Financial Times this month he was holding still, as were some friends.

Some donors have also expressed concern about DeSantis’ pre-campaign strategy. When his allies made clear this year that he would not enter the race before the end of the legislative session in Florida, DeSantis effectively gave Trump three months to define him — and taunt him — before becoming a candidate.

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