House Speaker Mike Johnson, who recently expressed his endorsement of Donald Trump for the 2024 election, held a meeting with the former president on Monday night, according to two sources familiar with the encounter.
The meeting took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, a few days after Johnson declared his full support for President Trump in a CNBC interview. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, emphasized his endorsement, stating, “I am all in for President Trump,” noting Trump’s lead in the polls for the GOP presidential primary campaign.
Last week, Johnson openly declared, “I have endorsed him wholeheartedly.” This endorsement marked a departure from the approach of his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, who chose not to endorse any candidate during the GOP primaries earlier this year, a common practice among congressional party leaders who typically refrain from endorsing candidates until presumptive nominees emerge.
Trump, in a supportive gesture, seemingly endorsed Johnson’s bid for speaker on Truth Social last month, recommending, “My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!”
In 2020, Johnson led an amicus brief signed by 100 Republicans, supporting a Texas lawsuit aimed at invalidating election results in four battleground states won by President Joe Biden.
Last week, The New York Times reported that in 2015, years before his endorsement of Trump, Johnson expressed on Facebook that he believed Trump “lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House.” He also suggested that Trump’s hotheadedness “is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief.
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