But some prominent Republicans, including the party’s last two White House occupants, President George H.W. Bush and his son, President George W. Bush, have declined to endorse him. Ryan stunned Republicans by withholding his endorsement a week ago when it became clear Trump was on a firm path to the nomination. Nevertheless, the Republican [white] party can believe Trump’s hateful rhetoric where he states he will send 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants back to their homeland.
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Democrats are “desperate to talk about anything other than their candidates” and the “extreme negatives” of President Obama and Clinton in the states they are defending, said Jon Thompson, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association. He says they’re “planting the seeds” to accomplish that goal.
Ryan has yet to come out in support of Trump.
“Things have a way in politics and government of working themselves out”, Senator Chuck Grassley told reporters.
Trump, in a black SUV, slipped from one GOP power center to another on his fence-mending mission made necessary by his outsider status in a city that embodies insiders.
The billionaire’s provocative, crowd-rousing pronouncements, his arsenal of insults hurled at rivals and his amorphous positions on matters dear to conservatives have unnerved many GOP leaders who fear he will be crushed in the fall.
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a leading lawmaker and GOP leadership ally, predicted that “Hillary Clinton will unify Republicans like nobody’s business”.
Palacio said he expects the “Trump effect” to come into play especially in moderate suburban districts that historically have been bellwethers of voter sentiment nationwide. A second meeting will include Trump, Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry. Trump entered the RNC building, the venue a few blocks from the Capitol, through a side door as about a dozen protesters who oppose his immigration positions demonstrated at the front, chanting “Down, down with deportation. Up, up with liberation”.
From the New York Times: “The director of the F.B.I. said Wednesday that he would not be rushed into finishing his agency’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails on an election timetable”.
The much-awaited high-stakes meeting unfolded Thursday morning as polls suggest Republican voters are getting behind Trump, who effectively clinched the nomination last week. He’ll give his support to Donald Trump. The most comfortable fit for Ryan and other Republicans – long enough to show they’re not insane about Trump but early enough to avoid antagonizing true Trump believers -is probably after the primary calendar is finished and before the convention.
Whatever happens after Thursday’s meetings, most other members echoed Representative Steve King of Iowa in saying they don’t think a resolution between Ryan and Trump can happen in a day. “He obviously can take a punch”, said Graham, who waged his own unsuccessful bid for his party’s nomination. “At this point, I’m just not there right now”, Ryan said on CNN.
“I’ve always been impressed but I was really impressed today”, said Sen.
Ryan insisted Wednesday that Republican Party unity is paramount, even if he’s not yet willing to endorse the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee. He met him once in person back in 2012. Romney went after Trump on Wednesday over his refusal thus far to release his taxes, calling it “disqualifying” and asserting that the only explanation must be “a bombshell of unusual size”.
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The Senate Democratic leader was speaking ahead of a series of meetings between Trump, McConnell and other Republican leaders.
