Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan struck a conciliatory tone after meeting in Washington Thursday, seeking to put behind them a public spat that erupted after Ryan said last week that he is not ready to endorse the business mogul in his bid for the White House.
“While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground,” Trump and Ryan said in a joint statement. “We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal.”
Despite the positive tone of the joint statement, it did not say that Ryan now supports Trump as the party’s nominee.
Ryan’s refusal to endorse Trump elevated the stakes of their meeting this morning at Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill and generated enormous media interest.
Trump’s face-to-face with Ryan was the first of several high-profile sit downs with Republican leaders that come as the campaign seeks to unite the party — and its resources — ahead of a competitive general election.
The summit between Ryan and Trump was cast as an opportunity to soothe tensions between Trump and the GOP establishment at a pivotal moment for a party sharply divided over the likely nominee’s unorthodox and controversial campaign.
The day of meetings began at 9 a.m. when Trump met with Ryan (R-Wis.) and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, after which he met with the full House GOP leadership team.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Priebus tweeted out that the meeting was “great.”
Trump left the RNC shortly before 11 a.m., waving at reporters from the back seat of his black suburban. He will meet later in the morning with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his top associates.
The streets outside Republican National Committee headquarters assumed a circus-like atmosphere Thursday morning. Dozens of cameras staked out every entrance to the building, satellite trucks lined the nearby streets and passersby gawked at the spectacle.
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SOURCE: The Washington Post, Jose A. DelReal and Mike DeBonis
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