WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson will travel to Mar-a-Lago Friday for remarks on “election integrity” with former President Donald Trump, two sources directly familiar with the plans confirmed to NBC News.
Asked by NBC News what his press conference with Trump will focus on, Johnson said, “You’ll have to see. … I look forward to going down there.”
When asked to elaborate on “election integrity,” Johnson said: “free and fair elections.”
The planned remarks were first reported by CNN. The House is set to be in session on Friday but votes are expected to be done in the morning.
Friday’s meeting with Trump comes as Johnson, R-La., faces threats to his job from his right flank and scrutiny over his handling of thorny issues in a narrow Republican majority, including a military aid package for Ukraine and other U.S. allies that has been held up for months, despite his vows to pass new Ukraine aid.
Johnson is under tremendous pressure from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., another Trump ally, who has threatened to force a vote on a motion to oust the speaker over funding for Ukraine. Greene, who argues that congressional attention and funding should be turned to the southern border rather than Ukraine, last month filed a “motion to vacate” to depose Johnson but stopped short of forcing a vote to remove him.
A Republican former senior congressional aide said that the meeting in Mar-a-Lago may send a message to Greene that Johnson is close to Trump and that Trump is supportive of his continued leadership of the House GOP. “This seems to be more about motion-to-vacate mitigation than anything else,” said the former aide.
Before he was elected House speaker, Johnson had boosted Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and pursued legal efforts to invalidate President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. In Dec. 2020, Johnson led an amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn Biden’s wins in four battleground states.
Johnson endorsed Trump in November, not long after taking the speaker’s gavel.
Although Trump did not announce an outright endorsement amid the House speaker’s race last year, the former president seemed to boost Johnson’s bid, writing in a post to his Truth Social platform, “My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!”
Days after he announced his endorsement of Trump, Johnson met with the former president at a fundraiser for Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. in November at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Kyle Stewart contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
