Trump to campaign with Paul Ryan

Donald Trump plans to campaign in Speaker Paul Ryan’s southeastern Wisconsin district on Saturday, in what would mark their first appearance together.

{mosads}Trump will join Ryan at the annual Wisconsin Fall Fest in Elkhorn, Wis., along with the state’s Republican senator, Ron Johnson, Gov. Scott Walker and Brad Courtney, the state GOP chairman. 

Ryan has had an uneasy relationship with his party’s presidential nominee. The Wisconsin Republican has rebuked Trump multiple times over the last year for, among other things, proposing a ban on allowing Muslims into the U.S. and failing to promptly disavow support from a white supremacist.

The Speaker withheld from formally endorsing Trump for weeks after the real estate mogul effectively clinched the GOP presidential nomination. Trump later returned the favor after the Republican National Convention by withholding an endorsement of Ryan over a long-shot primary challenger, Paul Nehlen.

Ryan recently met with Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, in New York City. 

The release from Ryan’s campaign announcing the event notably didn’t include Trump in the subject line. The appearance from the party’s presidential nominee wasn’t mentioned until the third paragraph, after listing the attendance of Walker, Johnson and other state party officials.

Ryan largely avoided commenting on Trump during his weekly press conferences in the Capitol while the House was in session last month. He did, however, distance himself from the nominee’s praise for Vladimir Putin after Trump favorably contrasted the Russian leader against President Obama. He has instead tried to promote the House GOP’s policy agenda, titled “A Better Way,” that lawmakers unveiled this summer.

Johnson faces a competitive reelection fight this year. Unlike some other vulnerable GOP senators who have tried to distance themselves from Trump, such as Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Pat Toomey (Pa.), Johnson will be making an appearance on the campaign trail with the controversial nominee.

— This report was updated at 12:21 p.m.