Trump talks to GOP Speaker candidates ahead of third nomination election

Former President Trump spoke to several of the nine candidates for Speaker in recent days ahead of the House GOP’s internal election to nominate a third candidate for the gavel.

Trump’s conversations with Speaker candidates included House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Reps. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), and Mike Johnson (R-La.), according to sources who spoke to The Hill and candidates confirming the conversations publicly.

But speaking to reporters from New Hampshire on Monday, Trump did not appear poised to make an endorsement in the race as nine candidates seek to be the party’s nominee.

“We’re looking at a lot of people. And you know, I’m sort of trying to stay out of that as much as possible,” Trump said.

Trump’s conversation with Emmer, though, has caught more attention after allies of the former president criticized the member of House GOP leadership.

Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, speaking on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s “War Room” show Friday, knocked Emmer for not yet endorsing Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Emmer has said he will not make an endorsement in the race.

“If somebody is so out of step with where the Republican electorate is, where the MAGA movement is, how can they even be in the conversation?” Epshteyn said. “We need a MAGA speaker.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) addressed the Trump-Emmer dynamic on his podcast on Monday — and was the first to reveal Emmer and Trump spoke over the weekend. 

“I am told that President Trump and Tom Emmer spoke over the weekend and that that conversation went well,” Gaetz said.

A source familiar with the conversation confirmed that call. But another source, a friend of Trump, warned against reading too much into it.

“Emmer called President Trump this weekend and the two had a polite conversation. End of story. Attempts from Emmer and his allies to make the call sound like something that it wasn’t is misleading,” the friend of Trump told The Hill.

Responding to a question from a reporter in New Hampshire who said Emmer had not always been Trump’s biggest fan, Trump said: “I think he’s my biggest fan now because he called me yesterday, and he told me, ‘I’m your biggest fan,’ so I don’t know about that.”

“I’ve always gotten along with him,” Trump added of Emmer. “I get along with all of them, really. A lot of good people, they have a lot of great people.”

Emmer responded to the comments on X, formerly Twitter.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Emmer wrote. “If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to continuing our strong working relationship.”

Trump’s conversations with Speaker candidates come after his first pick for the position failed to secure the gavel.

He had endorsed his staunch ally, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), for Speaker over House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) earlier this month.

Scalise initially narrowly won the nomination despite Trump’s endorsement of his opponent, but he then withdrew his name after allies of Jordan refused to give him enough support to win on the House floor. Jordan then became the nominee — which the conference then rescinded after three failed votes on the House floor. Allies of Scalise, who were bitter about how he had been treated, withheld support for Jordan.

He may not jump into the chaotic Speaker race again.

A source said that Trump’s conversation with Sessions was “polite and went well,” Sessions did not ask for endorsement, and Trump is looking for a Speaker he can work with. 

Donalds said on Fox News on Monday that Trump is “focused on getting the nomination of our party.”

Hern said on CNN on Monday he does not think Trump will endorse “because all of us are friends of his.”

Brett Samuels and Mychael Schnell contributed.