House Speaker Mike Johnson, with his job in jeopardy, traveled to Florida on Friday to meet with the only man who could save his precarious speakership: former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Johnson has canceled his pilgrimage to President Trump's resort in Palm Beach as he faces continued threats from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right flamemonger and Trump supporter from Georgia. went.
Asked if he would support Greene's motion to remove Johnson from office, Trump, who is expected to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, had kind words for both men.
“We get along very well with our speakers. And I get along very well with Marjorie. We have speakers who are voted on, but it's a complicated process and we know which speakers I very much think it's not an easy situation for Marjorie. I think he's doing a very good job. He's doing as good as you're trying to do. And Marjorie too She's a very good friend of mine, and I know she respects this speaker very much.”
Trump later added, “I support the Speaker,” and said, “It's unfortunate that people bring this up, because we have bigger problems right now.”
The official topic of the meeting was to strengthen “election integrity,” and President Trump said he would meet in the afternoon to discuss measures focused on preventing noncitizens from voting. At the Mar-a-Lago resort, Johnson, R-Louisiana, said he was happy to join the 2024 Republican ticket at “this beautiful facility.”
Voting by non-citizens is already illegal and extremely rare. But President Trump and many of his allies have falsely claimed that illegal immigration influenced the 2020 election and have warned that they could have a similar impact this year.
Prime Minister Johnson sided with President Trump and called for a vote on federal voting reform.
“House Republicans are introducing a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote. It seems like common sense,” he said, adding that there are “millions of illegal aliens” in the United States, many of them illegally. He claimed he might try to vote. “Congressional elections across the country could be close. If enough votes are gathered, it could have an impact on the presidential election.”
Before the meeting, some Republicans said Trump's support would help fend off Johnson's threat to the gavel.
Conservative Rep. Ralph Norman (RS.C.) said it would “obviously help Johnson” if Trump reiterated his support for him. said in an interview. Although Mr. Norman has sometimes criticized Mr. Johnson, he does not support calls for his removal.
“Trump has his supporters. He's our candidate. … It's Trump and Biden now. There's no other choice. So it's good that they're together,” Norman continued, adding that Trump He said he hopes he will impress Johnson with his ideas. The primary focus is on passing new restrictions on immigration.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida), a critic of Mr. Johnson, said when asked what Mr. Johnson should gain from visiting President Trump, saying, “President Trump is a great negotiator. “But he also has a lot of great insight into what the American people think.” want. “She is looking forward to the joint announcement,” she said.
Mr. Johnson's visit to Palm Beach comes just three days before Mr. Trump is scheduled to go on trial in New York on charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
President Trump told reporters Friday that he plans to testify: “Yes, I will absolutely testify. This is fraud. It's fraud. It's not a trial.”
“Jury selection is mostly luck. It depends on who is chosen,” he added. “I'm testifying. I'm telling the truth. All I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is there's no case. They don't have a case.”
This is the first time the two have met in person since Trump became the leading Republican candidate. Meetings like this between the Republican Party chair and a presidential candidate are not uncommon, as the Republican Party is united behind the candidate. But it came just three weeks after Greene introduced the motion to overthrow Johnson and other conservatives complained about his handling of a number of thorny issues.
Fueling the threat to Mr. Johnson's job is the approval of aid to Ukraine and the renewal of the warrantless surveillance program under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The FISA bill was passed on Friday. In both cases, Mr. Johnson is under pressure from his party's committee leaders, centrist Republicans, and the Senate to take action against the wishes of far-right lawmakers who oppose both issues. .
Marjorie Taylor Greene's resignation motion
Greene announced a motion to remove Johnson last month before the House adjourned for two weeks, but it has not yet been activated. If she does so, she would have two legislative days to vote on it. Despite pleas from her colleagues back in the House of Commons to resign, she has only stepped up her attacks on Mr Johnson.
Greene made the threat over the sweeping government funding bill passed last month, claiming Johnson gave President Joe Biden and Democrats “everything they wanted” in the spending package. negotiated with Democrats on this bill, which includes He controlled the Senate and the White House. )
“I will not tolerate elected Republican Chairman Mike Johnson serving the Democratic Party and the Biden administration and helping implement their policies that are destroying our country. By not participating, you are throwing our razor-thin majority into disarray,” Greene wrote in a letter to colleagues this week, urging Johnson not to provide funding for Ukraine aid or without new provisions. requested that Section 702 not be updated. “Writ Requirements.”
Other Republicans said they would not support Greene's motion to step down, and Greene downplayed Friday's meeting, saying “President Trump meets with people all the time.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida), an ally of Mr. Johnson and a supporter of Mr. Trump, said he did not believe the threat to the speaker was real, saying, “Despite all the noise, “Mr Johnson is in a very strong position here.”
Some Democrats have also said they would vote to defend Johnson if Republicans called for him to be expelled for passing aid to Ukraine. Democratic leaders, who unified the conference last fall against protecting then-California House Speaker Kevin McCarthy amid a revolt by a small number of Republicans, are leaving the door open with Mr. Johnson. .
“If the Speaker can do the right thing and carry out the will of the House with a vote for or against national security legislation, I believe there are a significant number of Democrats who do not want to see him.” Right. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York told reporters on Thursday that he was making “an observation, not a declaration, because we need a dialogue.” he added.
Friday's meeting comes just weeks after Mr. McCarthy publicly accused Mr. Trump of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, as Mr. McCarthy sought to make amends with Mr. Trump at Mar. It reminds me of flying to Largo. After Republicans regained the House majority, Trump endorsed McCarthy for speaker, helping him win the gavel during a week-long stalemate in early 2023.
But last fall, when Mr. Trump's ally, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), pushed for a vote to overthrow Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Trump remained silent and made no effort to save Mr. McCarthy.
Johnson's fate may be different given his role in Trump's efforts to overturn Biden's victory in the 2020 election. He led a court brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the election results in four Biden swing states.