The chances that Pres. Trump was using it as a term of endearment is zilch.
You agree, I take it, that Trump has never intended that there would be a permanent rift between him and Meatball, but instead that Trump has always left open a wide berth for himself (Trump) to drive through to allow him to endorse Meatball for the Pubbie POTUS nomination in the future (for example, in 2024) by which time he (Trump) will have exhausted his Constitutional eligibility.
The chances that Pres. Trump called DeSantis a Meatball based on unnamed sources from CNN is near zilch.
I notice that you continue to repeat CNN propaganda.