Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was in New York for various events when he reached out to former President Trump to inform him he would be at the Manhattan courthouse, where Trump\u2019s criminal trial was taking place the very next morning.<\/p>\n
Johnson made the decision himself and contacted Trump directly, a source close to the speaker told Fox News Digital. Multiple people said he rode with Trump in his motorcade on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
\u2018I came here\u2026 today on my own to support President Trump because I am one of hundreds of millions of people and one citizen who is deeply concerned about this, so I\u2019m glad to be here,\u2019 he told reporters afterward.<\/p>\n
Johnson was the highest-ranking federal lawmaker to show up at Trump\u2019s criminal proceedings so far \u2013 a public symbol of the staunch alliance the two have built since Johnson became speaker after a tumultuous series of events in October.<\/p>\n
Multiple people close to Trump and Johnson told Fox News Digital that they speak frequently, with one GOP lawmaker estimating they talk \u2018at least weekly\u2019 but added \u2018it depends on the issue.\u2019<\/p>\n
The source close to Johnson told Fox News Digital that the speaker keeps Trump in the loop on the major moves being made in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Those same allies stressed that the relationship, a close one for an elected congressional leader and their party\u2019s presumptive presidential nominee, is positive for both the House and the GOP as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u2018It helps both sides. It helps the House, but it also helps the party, because you\u2019re coming in from two different directions at the same general goal,\u2019 Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who previously served in Trump\u2019s Cabinet, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
Zinke said Trump and Johnson have a very good working relationship, arguing their \u2018uniquely different\u2019 personalities make for a good match.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think they both understand that unity of effort is required, and it has to be a cordial relationship\u2026 I think there\u2019s a realization that if we hold the House, that would be an imperative for the America First agenda,\u2019 Zinke said. \u2018You have a 100% New Yorker with high elbows and a lot of bravado. And then you have a Louisiana son of a firefighter that is kind and low-key. So maybe it\u2019s a good match.\u2019<\/p>\n
Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, \u2018President Trump, behind the scenes and in public, speaks well of [Johnson]. I think, like a lot of people, he trusts him.\u2019<\/p>\n
Meuser added, \u2018[Trump] thinks he could probably improve in certain areas. As I\u2019ve said, some of those bills, I just think we should have fought harder for. But I think they really have a special relationship.\u2019<\/p>\n
Indeed, Trump has exercised his powerful influence to help Johnson out of legislative jams before \u2013 like expressing public support against GOP rebels\u2019 threats to oust the speaker from leadership, and showing tacit support for Johnson\u2019s plan on foreign aid.<\/p>\n
Johnson, for his part, has vehemently defended Trump amid his criminal trials and even recently floated defunding Special Counsel Jack Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That support extends behind closed doors as well \u2013 Johnson touted Trump\u2019s poll numbers in critical swing states during a members-only House GOP Conference meeting on Wednesday morning, multiple people said.<\/p>\n
And while he was not the first House GOP leader to endorse Trump\u2019s re-election, his decision to do so was swift and, like much of Johnson\u2019s political calculus surrounding the ex-president, appears to have been a unilateral decision.<\/p>\n
Ahead of his November CNBC interview when Johnson made news by endorsing Trump, the source close to him recalled it was suggested that the speaker wait until his political team could put together a formal rollout.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Johnson argued that it made no sense to wait because he already supported the ex-president\u2019s re-election, the source said, and then caught staff off guard when he told \u2018Squawk Box,\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m all in for President Trump.\u2019<\/p>\n
Multiple lawmakers categorized Trump and Johnson\u2019s relationship as a productive but working one \u2013 the GOP lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital said they started out at \u2018nearly zero\u2019 \u2013 but the source pushed back, citing a recent interview in The Atlantic where Johnson said Trump called him the day after Johnson had to abruptly leave a meeting because his sons had almost drowned.<\/p>\n
\u2018President Trump heard about it somehow \u2013 miraculously, this never made the news,\u2019 Johnson had said. \u2018He was just so moved by the idea that we almost lost them\u2026 and we talked about the faith aspect of\u00a0that,\u00a0because he knows that I believe that, you know \u2013 that God spared the lives of my sons. That\u2019s how I understand those events, and we talked about that.\u2019<\/p>\n
Trump also had a good relationship with Johnson when the latter was part of Trump\u2019s impeachment defense team in 2020, the source said.<\/p>\n
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, another staunch Trump ally, told Fox News Digital, \u2018I think it\u2019s a healthy relationship. I think they both respect each other. And they don\u2019t always agree, but who does? But you know, I think that they\u2019ve got a relationship where they can get together in person or get on the phone and talk about stuff and come up with a common plan, a common strategy.\u2019<\/p>\n
Rep. Andy Barr, of Kentucky, another Republican close to both, said their relationship was \u2018very beneficial\u2019 to both sides.<\/p>\n
\u2018A lot of credit [goes] to both gentlemen for recognizing that they need each other. We need to collaborate and not just politically, but we want to have an effective first 100 days. We want to grow our majority, take back the White House and flip the Senate, and we want to be ready day one,\u2019 Barr said.<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.<\/p>\n\n
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was in New York for various events when he reached out to former President Trump to inform him he would be at the Manhattan courthouse, where Trump\u2019s criminal trial was taking place the very next morning. Johnson made the decision himself and contacted Trump directly, a source close to the speaker <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":19212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}