Byron Donalds just relaunched his Florida gubernatorial campaign website, and the new version looks noticeably different from the old one: at least eight references to President Donald Trump have vanished from the homepage. Gone is the banner touting Trump's endorsement. Gone is the photo of Donalds and his wife standing with the president. Gone, too, is the campaign's old go-to label for its candidate: “Trump-endorsed.”
What Disappeared From the Homepage
The changes were first flagged by the monitoring tool Visualping, which found that Donalds' campaign stripped at least eight references to Trump from its homepage, according to the Miami Herald. The previous site had featured a banner declaring Donalds was endorsed by the president, a button promoting “Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds,” and main text calling him a “Trump-endorsed proven conservative fighter,” per the same report. It also included a section quoting Trump's 2025 endorsement directly.
That endorsement itself dates back to February 2025, when Trump backed Donalds for governor, according to WLRN. The Miami Herald's reporting notes Trump's name now appears only as one entry in a rolling banner of conservative endorsements, alongside Elon Musk, Rick Scott, Mike Johnson, Ted Cruz and Charlie Kirk — all of whom remain listed on the site. The Donalds campaign, through spokesperson Gates McGavick, said the website reflects a focus on affordability, insurance costs and government transparency.
Affordability Replaces the Trump Agenda
The shift extends beyond the homepage. Donalds' agenda page now lists affordability as its first issue, and it no longer mentions Trump's name at all, the Miami Herald reported. That's a departure from the page's earlier framing, which had listed enacting the Trump agenda as its top priority before the update, per the same report.
The revamp comes after Donalds had made Trump's endorsement the linchpin of his 2025 campaign launch, per the outlet's reporting. Notably, Donalds did not mention Trump by name during his primary victory night speech in Orlando in August, instead praising other Republican leaders including Rick Scott, the Miami Herald noted. Donalds is the Republican nominee for governor and will face Democrat David Jolly in November, according to WLRN. He announced Florida state senator Bryan Ávila as his running mate at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami in August.
Part of a Broader GOP Pattern
Republican candidates have recently tweaked their messaging to downplay their connection to Trump, according to the Associated Press, via WREG.
The trend has surfaced across the country. In California, Rep. Young Kim removed references to Trump and “America First” from her reelection website, replacing a pro-Trump banner with a message about “restoring the American Dream,” the Los Angeles Times reported. The same report noted that fellow California Republican James Gallagher took Trump's endorsement off his website over the summer.
Kentucky has seen similar moves. Senate candidate Andy Barr removed several references to the president's endorsement, swapping in the slogan “Kentucky First Always” alongside a family photo, according to Louisville Public Media. Fellow Kentuckian Ralph Alvarado removed all Trump references from his homepage after winning his primary in May, the AP reported. In Texas, congressional candidate Eric Flores also deemphasized his ties to Trump.
Elsewhere in Florida politics, Rep. María Elvira Salazar launched a campaign ad criticizing the Trump administration's approach to mass immigrant detention and deportation, a sign that some Republicans are willing to break more openly from the president on policy, not just presentation.
Back when Trump first endorsed Donalds, several Republicans told the Florida Phoenix that the backing made him the leading candidate in the governor's race, even as they considered a competitive contest possible. Whether the scrubbed website reflects a shift in strategy or something more remains unclear.
