'His campaign is living in a fantasy land devoid of reality': Team Trump slams ... trends now

Donald Trump's campaign has slammed a leaked memo from Ron DeSantis's camp -  in which staffers openly criticized the former president and touted their candidate as the best for the Republican nomination.

The memo, first reported on by CBS News, was sent to prospective donors Saturday, and repeatedly reassures supporters of the Florida firebrand's presidential bid that he still his potential to win it all ahead of next Wednesday's primary debate.

Set to take place in notoriously progressive California, the event will see DeSantis, 45, again face off with fellow Republicans who have surfaced as unforeseen threats to DeSantis's second-place status - after last month's noticeably Trump-less display.

This time around, Trump, 77, is also poised to skip the proceedings - instead electing to travel to Detroit to deliver a speech for current and former auto union members as the United Auto Workers’ strike enters its fourth day.

As for the letter in question - penned by DeSantis' campaign manager James Uthmeier - it reportedly contains pointed assertions like DeSantis 'is the only candidate that can beat both Joe Biden and [Trump]' and that his campaign is the only amongst the crowd of candidates 'built for the long haul'.

Intended to sway donors to the Florida governor's side of the tracks, the correspondence spurred a quick response from team Trump - who called the memo 'a desperate cry for help from a candidate who is flailing in the polls.'

Spokesperson Steve Cheung told CBS News in a statement after the outlet aired some of the more pandering contents of the letter: 'His campaign is living in a fantasy land devoid of reality.

'President Trump is crushing him in the polls, dominating him in early state operations, and the only one who consistently beats Biden in surveys,' Cheung said, before providing another jab at the man many pegged to be the party's frontrunner.

'Everyone is laughing at the joke of a campaign he's running,' he said, in a statement sent shortly after the station reported on the circulating letter.

The memo, meanwhile, contained a litany of other language intended to quell DeSantis donors concerns about his languishing campaign - as polls continue to show him performing a great deal worse than current pack leader Trump.

Not only that, but tepid, non-charismatic displays along the campaign trail - and last month's debate in Milwaukee - have seen DeSantis fall behind even further, to the point where most polls not only have him being beaten by the GOP's frontrunner, but several other Republican rivals as well.

Included in that class are figures like Vivek Ramaswamy - a 38-year-old pharma billionaire from Ohio - and ex-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, both of whom were previously pegged as non-threats to  DeSantis and Trump by most pundits.

In another surprise, also surpassing DeSantis in recent weeks is New Jersey politco Chris Christie, whose stint as the state's governor has been widely ridiculed, and whose bid against Trump in 2016 famously fell flat.

A recent Fox Poll of 1,012 voters carried out between September 9-12 showed how Trump - despite facing four indictments - has actually widened his lead over other candidates, now winning 60 percent of support.