As Donald Trump’s onetime campaign manager and a New Hampshire resident, Corey Lewandowski has been by the former president’s side for many of his trips to the Granite State. But when Trump traveled to the state in late January, Lewandowski declined an invitation to appear at the event, a source with direct knowledge told CNN.

Lewandowski’s absence is seen as a sign of how the longtime ally has drifted away from Trump since the 2020 election, according to multiple sources familiar with their relationship. In total, CNN spoke with more than a dozen of people in Trump’s orbit who noted the change.

“I was over 1,500 miles away, and Mr. Trump was well aware of that,” Lewandowski told CNN when asked about his reason for missing the New Hampshire event, adding that his relationship with the former president has “never changed for the last eight years.”

But in recent months, Lewandowski has privately started pitching potential 2024 GOP hopefuls and surveying their campaign operations, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, multiple sources familiar with the talks told CNN. Lewandowski denies taking such steps, telling CNN he hasn’t “courted any other GOP candidates for president.”

The distancing by Lewandowski comes as Trump embarks on his third run for the White House, with many senior advisers who stood by him from his 2016 campaign through the end of his term as president seeming reluctant so far to embrace his latest bid.