Before the endorsement, Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized Ms. Reynolds, who had joined Mr. DeSantis at campaign events around Iowa, for her perceived disloyalty. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, spent Monday testifying in a civil fraud trial that threatens his business empire in New York. In Iowa, Mr. DeSantis is in need of a jolt. “She’s the reason we’re red,” said Gloria Mazza, the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Polk County, which includes Des Moines. Leaders of Iowa’s evangelical community, an important voting bloc, suggested Ms. Reynolds’s endorsement was a major coup for the DeSantis campaign.

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Persons: Trump, Reynolds, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, DeSantis’s, “, ”, Gloria Mazza, Mazza Organizations: Mr, Gov, Des Moines Register, NBC, Iowa Republicans, Republican Party Locations: Des Moines, Iowa, New York, South Carolina, Polk County