House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) met with Trump at the former President’s Florida country club residence Mar-a-Lago on Monday night, CNN reported, citing sources.
Johnson reportedly went to Mar-a-Lago to attend a fundraiser for Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL). Two Trump advisers told CNN that Johnson and Trump met briefly, though the Speaker was not there solely for a meeting with the former President.
Johnson’s predecessor, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), famously visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago on January 28, 2023 and had his photo taken with the former President, two weeks after the deadly January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. The visit by McCarthy, who had said in the immediate aftermath of the insurrection that Trump “bears responsibility” for the violence, has been widely viewed as contributing to the resurrection of the former President’s public reputation, particularly among Republicans.
Johnson is a longtime Trump ally who served on Trump’s impeachment defense team, though his role was largely ceremonial. After the 2020 election he led more than 100 GOP lawmakers in backing a lawsuit to challenge then-President-Elect Biden’s victory.
Johnson has endorsed Trump in the former President’s 2024 reelection bid, but it was unclear as of Tuesday morning what the pair discussed at Mar-a-Lago.
PHOTO: Mar-a-Lago, per Jud McCranie
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