What Donald Trump Has Said About Becoming House Speaker

Donald Trump has been floated by some Republicans as a potential House speaker following Kevin McCarthy's ousting—a role the former president has previously stated he is not interested in.

On Tuesday night, the House voted to remove its own speaker for the first time in U.S. history after eight Republicans joined 208 Democrats in supporting a motion put forward by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to remove McCarthy from the role he held for just nine months.

While there is no clear GOP candidate in line to replace McCarthy, several Republican lawmakers have said they will be voting for Trump for the role of House speaker, or have supported the idea.

There is nothing in the constitution to state that the House Speaker needs to be a member of Congress, meaning it is theoretically possible for Trump to get elected to the position. In January, Gaetz nominated Trump for House speaker during the 15 rounds of voting McCarthy went through before he was finally elected.

However, the lower chamber has historically always voted for one of its own in the speaker role, and it is unclear if Trump, who is running for president, will have the 218 majority House votes needed to get elected for House Speaker.

Another thing that may hinder the frontrunner in the GOP presidential primary's election to House speaker is his desire for the position.

In a March 2022 interview with Just the News, Trump said he had no interest in becoming House speaker.

"No, I think that it's not something I wanted. A lot of people bring it up. It's brought up all the time," Trump said.

"No, it's not something I want to do. I want to look at what's happening, and then we're going to be doing something else. No, it's not something I would be interested in."

Trump's office has been contacted for comment via email.

Speaking on his Fox News show, Sean Hannity said Tuesday night that sources have told him that the GOP has "started an effort" to get Trump elected as the next House speaker as the party scrambles to find a candidate they could all get behind.

"And I have been told that President Trump might be open to helping the Republican Party, at least in the short term, if necessary," Hannity said.

Three GOP House members—Texas' Troy Nehls, Florida's Greg Steube and Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene—have indicated that they will support the former president in voting to select a new House Speaker.

"This week, when the U.S. House of Representatives reconvenes, my first order of business will be to nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives," Nehls said in a statement. "President Trump, the greatest President of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America First and will make the House great again."

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Greene added: "The only candidate for Speaker I am currently supporting is President Donald J. Trump.

"He has a proven 4 year record as President of the United States of America. He received a record number of Republican votes of any Republican Presidential candidate! We can make him Speaker and then elect him President!"

Ohio's Jim Jordan—seen as a potential replacement for McCarthy—told Hannity on Tuesday night that Trump would be "great" as House speaker but did not indicate that he would vote for him.

"I want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States," Jordan said. "But if he wants to be speaker, great. That's where we need him, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but if he wants to be speaker, that's fine too."

However, as noted by Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten, the GOP may have already blocked any attempt to elect Trump as House Speaker.

"I would direct your attention to rule 26(a) of the House Republican Conference rules for the 118th Congress," Casten on wrote on X while sharing the GOP's rules which state that a member of the Republican Leadership "shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed."

Trump is facing a total of 91 criminal charges across four criminal investigations, including 44 federal counts as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's classified documents and the January 6 investigations.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.