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Mike Johnson's meeting with Donald Trump has sparked questions about what purpose it served and what was discussed.
The House speaker met the former president on Monday night at his Mar-a-Lago resort, a week after he endorsed him in his 2024 bid for the White House, according to multiple reports. He has long been an ally of the Republican, serving on his impeachment team and voting to sustain the objection to electoral votes on January 6, 2021.
It is not known what was discussed in the meeting, which marked the first time the two have met in person since Johnson became speaker in October, according to CBS News reporter Fin Gomez. He also reported the meeting took place during a private fundraiser for Florida Congressman Gus Bilirakis.
This sparked speculation on social media about whether they discussed the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Trump is the frontrunner in the Republican primaries, according to polls. If he wins these primaries, he will face incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden in November 2024 where he will likely become the next president, latest surveys signal.
Some social media users questioned whether Johnson was asking Trump for advice or whether he was taking orders from the former president. These speculations have not been stood up by any reports.
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Johnson and Trump by email to comment on this story.
It comes after Trump appeared to boost Johnson's bid for speaker on his social media platform Truth Social last month, writing: "My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!"
Johnson's chances were also improved when Trump came out against another nominee Tom Emmer, calling the Minnesota Republican a "Globalist RINO" and saying that voting for him "would be a tragic mistake."
His election ended a three-week deadlock in the House of Representatives, triggered by the ousting of Johnson's predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, who while in office had declined to endorse a candidate in the Republican primaries.
Meanwhile, last week, Johnson told CNBC that he was "one of the closest allies that President Trump had in Congress" and that the former president had "a phenomenal first term."
He has said he plans to publicly release 44,000 hours of footage from the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials," Johnson said in a statement.
About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more