Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ended his presidential campaign on Sunday, just two days ahead of the New Hampshire primary, leaving former President Donald Trump with one less primary rival standing between him and his third Republican nomination.

DeSantis made the announcement in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, and said he would be backing Trump.

“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in the video. “While I have had disagreements with Donald Trump, such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden. That is clear.”

The Trump campaign thanked DeSantis for his support in a statement.

"With only a few days left until President Donald J. Trump’s victory in New Hampshire, we are honored by the endorsement from Governor Ron DeSantis and so many other former presidential candidates. It is now time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump to defeat Crooked Joe Biden," the statement read. "Nikki Haley is the candidate of the globalists and Democrats who will do everything to stop the America First movement."1

"It’s time to choose wisely," the statement concluded.

The Florida governor's departure from the race means former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is Trump’s last real competition, but she trails the ex-president by double-digits in New Hampshire and elsewhere. New Hampshire’s primary is on Tuesday.

“I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honor that pledge,” DeSantis continued. "He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear -- a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism -- that Nikki Haley represents."

In response to his decision, Haley said in a statement she planned on staying in the race.

“Ron DeSantis has been a good governor, and I wish him well. So far, only one state has voted. Half of its votes went to Donald Trump, and half did not. We’re not a country of coronations," Haley said. "Voters deserve a say in whether we go down the road of Trump and Biden again, or we go down a new conservative road. New Hampshire voters will have their say on Tuesday."

Before he got in the race last May, DeSantis had perhaps the strongest case of any GOP hopeful planning to challenge Trump. Fresh off a historic victory securing his second term as governor, the 45-year-old rising star built a national profile by using the levers of Florida’s government to enact a strict conservative social agenda and wage what he dubbed a “war on woke,” including picking fights with Disney and barring certain instruction on race and gender throughout the state’s education system.

Less than a year ago, he was polling within single-digits of the former president whose hold on his party now nears its ninth year.

But on Sunday, DeSantis called it quits, ending his campaign after a distant second place in Iowa and poor polling in the states to come.

“Following our second-place finish in Iowa, we have prayed and deliberated on the way forward. If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome — more campaign stops, more interviews — I would do it.  But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory,” he said.

His campaign was plagued by mishaps and turmoil from the get, including a glitchy announcement on X alongside billionaire owner Elon Musk and a well-funded, but unruly super PAC that took on much of the typical infrastructure of a campaign. In the end, robbed of opportunities to face Trump head on -- who kept his distance and allowed his challengers to fight for second -- DeSantis’ polling sagged, even in Iowa where he and his allies poured tens of millions of dollars into over seven months and where he visited all 99 counties.

Despite coming in second in Iowa -- two points ahead of Haley and 30 behind Trump -- DeSantis did not win a single county. In New Hampshire, home of the GOP primary’s second contest, he was polling in the single digits. And in South Carolina, a state where his team briefly made the case he could win after Iowa, he found himself in a less, but still distant third.

His decision to back Trump comes as the primary’s far-and-away frontrunner dominates in the polls in New Hampshire and beyond, and as the former president consolidates more Republican establishment support. Scores of senators and congress members have backed Trump, including the entirety of House GOP leadership. Former primary rivals South Carolina Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have all endorsed him.

In DeSantis’ home state, Trump earned the endorsements of 17 of Florida’s 20 Republican members of Congress. DeSantis was able to secure just one.

The term-limited Florida governor will be out of the job come 2027, just in time for the next presidential cycle. He didn’t indicate his future plans on Sunday and it's unclear his relationship with Trump is so irreparable as to rule out a role in his administration or on the ticket. But he made it clear he plans on sticking around national politics.

“Winston Churchill once remarked that ‘success is not final, failure is not fatal — it is the courage to continue that counts,’” DeSantis said near the end of his remarks. “While this campaign has ended, the mission continues.  Down here in Florida, we will continue to show the country how to lead.” (According to the International Churchill Society, a group dedicated to studying the history of the famed British Prime Minister, that quote is often falsely attributed to Churchill.) 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.