Trump endorses Speaker Johnson to retain House gavel in 2025

President-elect Donald Trump told House Republicans on Wednesday that he supports Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to hold the gavel in 2025, a source confirmed to Scripps News.
“I’m with him all the way,” Trump told House Republicans on Wednesday.
The meeting with House Republicans was being held as Senate Republicans decide who their next leader will be to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Following Trump’s meeting with House Republicans, he will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. Trump’s visit to the White House marks his first time at the complex since leaving office in 2021.
Whether Trump’s endorsement will be enough to prevent another showdown over the gavel remains to be seen.
Once taking the majority in 2023, members of Congress needed multiple rounds of voting before settling on Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Within a year, several members of the party revolted against McCarthy for working with Democrats on a budget bill and forced him from the speakership. The party then voted for Johnson as speaker.
Many of the inner-party squabbles were due to Republicans holding such a razor-thin majority in the House. After the results of the 2024 election, the Republicans likely will not build their majority significantly. Decision Desk HQ projects Republicans to win 219 seats, with only one additional race leaning toward Republicans. A 220-vote majority in the House would mark one of the slimmest advantages for a party in the chamber’s history.