Few people know what Trump said about DeSantis yesterday and even fewer people care. The idea that Trump comes out the loser in a head to head with DeSantis is a fantasy.
The thing that upsets people about Trump’s DeSantis comment is that when Trump is in a political confrontation with someone, he doesn’t pretend otherwise. Trump knows a lot more about DeSantis’s plans than we do but even with that, it’s easy to figure out that DeSantis is setting himself up to be the alternative to Trump (i.e. Trumpism without Trump). Like Cruz in early 2016, DeSantis isn’t ready to attack Trump directly yet, so he does it through subtle swipes, such as his endorsement of O’Dea. Trump is simply being more direct than DeSantis.