Ryan: I want to be part of the ‘unifying process’

Speaker Paul Ryan pledged Wednesday to play a central role in unifying the fractured Republican Party just one day before his high-stakes meeting with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

{mosads}Ryan, the highest-ranking elected Republican, appeared at his first news conference in the Capitol since he stunned Washington by announcing last week that he was “not ready” to endorse Trump, given the billionaire’s past controversial statements and policies.

Ryan said it was incumbent on the Manhattan real estate mogul to unify the party. Some Trump supporters saw Ryan’s declaration as inflaming the war already raging within the GOP.

But on Wednesday, the Wisconsin Republican said his meeting with Trump on Thursday would mark a step toward “real unification” of the warring wings of the party.

“What we’re trying to do is be as constructive as possible but have a real unification. To pretend we’re unified as a party after a very bruising primary, to pretend we’re unified without actually unifying, we go into the fall at half strength,” Ryan told reporters after meeting with rank-and-file House Republicans.

“I want to be part of that unifying process so that we’re at full strength this fall, so that we can win this election,” the Speaker added. “We cannot afford to lose this election to [Democratic presidential front-runner] Hillary Clinton.”

Ryan publicly condemned Trump several times during the campaign, focusing on the candidate’s proposed ban on letting Muslims enter the country and for failing to immediately disavow white supremacist David Duke after he endorsed Trump. But Ryan wouldn’t say Wednesday what specifically Trump needed to say to win his endorsement.

“This is a big-tent party. There is plenty of room for different policy disputes in this party,” Ryan said. “The goal here is to unify the party around common principles so that we can go forward and unify.”

Trump will head to Republican National Committee headquarters at 9 a.m. Thursday to kick off a series of meetings with Ryan and other House and Senate GOP leaders.

Trump surrogates have also reached out to leaders of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) about setting up a meeting between the likely nominee and the conservative group soon, according to Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), an HFC co-founder.

— This report was updated at 12:03 p.m.