President-elect Trump gave his full support to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to lead the House again in a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday.
Hours before Republicans elected leaders for the 119th Congress, President Trump told current and incoming members of Congress that he supports Johnson “100%,” according to people familiar with the matter. Mr Johnson faced no serious challenges, but a group of Conservative MPs has threatened to delay the process by demanding a recorded vote rather than unanimous consent for the chair.
A member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus told Fox News Digital that Trump's strong support for Johnson would likely negate significant opposition faced by the Louisiana Republican Party. .
Two sources said President Trump told Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) to “stand together” in the upcoming Congress. He is said to have instructed him to do so.
According to people familiar with the matter, President Trump also promised to carry out “the largest deportation operation in history,” which drew cheers from House Republicans.
In addition to Elon Musk, who was in attendance, he also encouraged his incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and House Republican Consultative Committee Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York, who was nominated to be the new U.N. ambassador, sources said. spoke. Said.
Trump also mused about running for a fourth time, predicting that Republicans could win in liberal states like California and New York in the next election.
“Unless you do something different, because he's so good, we need to fix something,” he told a gathering of House Republicans ahead of a closed-door leadership election in Washington. I don't think I'll run again unless they say yes,” he joked. , Wednesday in DC.
“It's nice to win. It's always nice to win. We have a lot of good friends in this room. I mean, especially for the president, we got some historic numbers,” Trump said. Ta. “But the House has done a very good job, so I think we have a responsibility to help you.”
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday predicted that Republicans could win liberal states such as California and New York in the next election, and mused about running for a fourth time. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Republicans move two seats away from House majority, giving Trump more room to implement his agenda
Trump's appearance came as lawmakers returned to Washington for a lame-duck session ahead of their next term. Republicans are poised to maintain a slim majority in the House and have a majority in the Senate, making it much easier to get conservative legislation to the president's desk next term.
Trump added: “It's great that we won, because there's no way Republicans would get a majority.”
House Majority Leader Tom Emmer, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise are also in the running for the same role as leaders of the next Congress. (Getty Images)
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“We won every way – by big margins in all seven battleground states… New Jersey is right, by just a few points. They're very worried because they think we're up next. If it goes up even a fraction of what it's worth, you can win in New York, you can win in New Jersey, you can win in California, you can win in places where you couldn't win. ”
