Ron DeSantis in the shadows as Florida Republicans toast Trump's team

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other members of Trump's inner circle — not Gov. Ron DeSantis — were the stars at the Florida GOP's big annual convention.

ORLANDO, Fla. — By the time Susie Wiles took the stage here at the state Republican Party’s biggest event of the year, it was clear who the star of the show was — and, equally as important, who was not.

Wiles, President Donald Trump’s longtime adviser and his current chief of staff, was at the event to receive the party’s “Statesman of the Year” award, its highest honor.

“I find it amazingly wonderful that almost every speaker has talked about voter registration and grassroots,” she told the audience of party dignitaries. “It is the backbone of what we do and why we do it and why we win.”

As the evening went on, speaker after speaker hailed Wiles, with one calling her the “most powerful woman in the world.” Along with her keynote address, the main portion of the weekend convention was dominated by figures in Trump’s inner circle — some of whom had, like Wiles, previously worked for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before publicly falling out with him.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles received an award from the Florida Republican Party.Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesThe lineup underpinned how abruptly the Florida GOP appears to have moved on from DeSantis, the man who had for the past five years been, by far, its most prominent figure and also was once named the party’s “Statesman of the Year.”