DeSantis failed to solve the Trump puzzle

Plus: Who will be the world's first trillionaire? [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a lightly regulated, low-tax jurisdiction of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - DeSantis’ [campaign]( was far from breezy. - The road to [$1 trillion]( won’t be easy. - LVMH [shareholders]( are a little uneasy. - The [flag of convenience]( is pretty sleazy. Pudding Puzzles All presidential campaigns come with a decent amount of lore. Remember the [infamous]( scream that ruined Howard Dean’s prospects two decades ago? Or that time when Clint Eastwood [talked to a chair]( for 11 minutes straight? A single photo op, whether of [a female biker at a diner](, [a casual jog outside McDonald’s]( or a [joy ride in an M1 Abrams tank](, can send your political career spiraling. And nobody knows that more than Ron DeSantis: From the get-go, his campaign was riddled with mysteries. Did he really dip [his fingers]( in chocolate pudding? Probably not. Does he actually wear [high-heels]( on his [tippies](? We may never know. And how about that [puzzle](? The candidate’s top PAC man reportedly spent the last days of the campaign assembling a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of an idyllic-looking moon cabin retreat. For not even making it to Super Tuesday, the Florida governor did manage to generate an impressive amount of mystery — and money — with his campaign. Although plenty of [lore remains](, the financing does not: “He raised more money than any other campaign, yet lost every county in the Iowa caucuses and ended up without even enough spare change to buy a New Hampshire snow shovel or South Carolina barbecue,” Mary Ellen Klas [writes]( (free read). (Not helping matters is [the $17.99 jigsaw puzzle](, which you can buy at Target.) “Like every other Republican leader who wants to normalize Trump’s authoritarian agenda, DeSantis demonstrated he’s not courageous. He’s an opportunistic coward,” she writes. As for Nikki Haley (and her [sweaters](), [time is not]( on her side. If she [fails]( to come out of New Hampshire victorious, we’ll almost certainly have a Trump-Biden rematch. In 2020, about 10% of swing state Republicans helped Biden win. Will the Never Trumpers save Democrats in 2024? Nia-Malika Henderson got a chance to [hear the opinions]( voiced by some of these voters in a focus group organized by [political consultant Sarah Longwell](. Some say “Biden is too old — even though [the age difference]( between Biden and former President Donald Trump is only three years.” Others say Biden deserves an “F” because he’s failed to control the Southern border – although Patricia Lopez [notes]( Republicans aren’t helping matters, either. Curiously, no one in the focus group mentioned Trump’s dubious stance on climate change. Still, Mark Gongloff [highlights]( a recent study suggesting anxiety about global warming may have stopped Trump in 2020, and it could deny him the presidency again this year. “[Poll]( after [poll]( reflect broad, if not deep, public concern about the climate and a desire for action. And Democrats, as the only political party professing to even believe the problem exists, have a huge advantage over Republicans on the issue,” he writes. Instead of, I dunno, worrying about how oil pipelines may be [poisoning]( the planet, Francis Wilkinson [says]( Trump is worrying about how immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the nation. No wonder Liz Cheney is daydreaming about a “new GOP.” The party is a mess of contradictions — and a puzzle that not even DeSantis can solve. Bonus Political Reading: - A [warning]( for Europe: The neo-isolationist trend in US politics goes well beyond Trump. — Max Hastings - We need to give Congress [more resources]( so it can write better laws. — Matthew Yglesias Ranking the Rich After more than three decades with the nation’s highest [per capita personal income](, Connecticut has slipped into second place, which Justin Fox [says]( may signal a welcome decline in regional inequality. Is it just pure coincidence that your favorite newsletter writer grew up in the Nutmeg State? I think not. The amount of [potato cones]( I consumed in high school must have helped buoy the economy. “From 1987 to 2019, Connecticut was the richest state in the US,” Justin writes. But once I was outta there, the state quickly fell on the leaderboard, ceding its crown to Massachusetts. What about the richest people who live in these rich states? In his latest column, Tyler Cowen [wonders]( when the world will have its first trillionaire. Oxfam International predicts we’ll have one within a decade, but Tyler isn’t so sure about that. Although the five wealthiest individuals in the world are 114% richer today than they were in 2020, reaching 13-digits by 2034 is rather unrealistic. For starters, “a [lot of billionaires]( seem less interested in making more money than in having some fun,” he writes. Jeff Bezos is an [Instagram boyfriend](/[gym rat]( with a rocket company. Bill Gates has his charities. Elon Musk [spent]( $44 billion to buy a digital hellscape. Regardless of talent, none of these men have an obvious path to a trillion dollars, Tyler argues. Plus, there are macroeconomic factors to consider: “Fiscal pressures may well lead to higher taxes, and it hardly would be a surprise if some of the tax hikes fell on the very wealthy.” At that point, who knows what state will be wearing the wealth crown. Telltale Charts LVMH’s annual earnings come out Thursday, which is as good of a time as any to ask the question: Why does LVMH need to be LVMH? The luxury behemoth consistently gets penalized by shareholders for its hodgepodge stable of businesses, which includes Louis Vuitton and Dior, as well as Loewe, Fendi, Celine, Sephora, Tiffany, Bulgari, wines and spirits, duty-free retailing and hospitality. Regardless of how random that mouthful of goods and services is, Andrea Felsted [says]( the conglomerate discount looks harsh. “Even on the simplest breakup valuation, the rationale for a split is compelling,” she writes. If separated, Louis Vuitton and Dior could achieve a multiple closer to that of Hermes, and LVMH’s other businesses wouldn’t need to be shoved to the wayside. Did you know that shipowners can just slap a random flag on their boat and speed it through the Red Sea like they’re an [Olympic athlete]( with dual citizenship? “Ships are often registered in lightly regulated, low-tax jurisdictions known as open registries and fly a so-called flag of convenience rather than that of the country of ownership,” Chris Bryant [writes](. Nearly half of the world’s ships are flagged from just three countries (Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands), allowing the world’s shipping companies to skirt around tax rates. But “the need for governments to defend cargo vessels in international waters — at considerable expense — is a good reason to tax shipowners properly,” he argues. Further Reading Free read: Empowering our future workforce requires [transforming]( high schools. — Michael R. Bloomberg Free read: The [introverts]( have taken over the US economy. — Allison Schrager Burger King is [serving]( whoppers with a major side of cringe. — Leticia Miranda With no path to peace in Gaza, it’s time for Biden to [get tougher]( on Israel. — Marc Champion An exodus of [Black women in academia]( hurts the workforce. — Anna Branch Bill Ackman didn’t invent [the playbook]( of self-appointed anti-plagiarism warriors. — Stephen Mihm The [electric aircraft]( may have more potential than we thought. — David Fickling AI can’t magically transform an ailing product. Microsoft’s [Bing experiment]( is proof. — Dave Lee ICYMI Kyla Scanlon welcomes you to [the vibespansion](. Biden [announced]( new steps to protect abortion access. [Palm Beach]( is having a Category 5 identity crisis. The new [Subway platform barriers]( look old school. [Upscale hotels]( are vying for Gen Z’s attention. Kickers Tyrese Haliburton [deserves]( a Schweppes sponsorship. Taylor Swift-themed football menu needs [better copywriters](. Foul-mouthed parrots [are teaching]( other birds to swear. (h/t Andrea Felsted) Maybe [Bigfoot]( is just a black bear. (h/t Scott Duke Kominers) [Reneé Rapp]( wants to [burn out]( by 30. Notes: Please send [anti-gyros]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. 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