Trump endorses Mike Johnson for another term as House speaker

Donald Trump has endorsed Mike Johnson for another term as speaker of the House of Representatives, following intense speculation that the Louisiana congressman could face a challenge amid unhappiness with his leadership among fellow Republicans.

The president-elect – whose own continued support had appeared uncertain – trumpeted his backing in a social media post that appeared to assure Johnson’s re-election speaker after the new Congress is sworn in on Friday.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform as he geared up for his second presidency, which begins in January.

“He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement.”

Trump’s declaration was greeted with gratitude by Johnson, who had reportedly been lobbying for his support in recent days without receiving a clear signal of whether it would be forthcoming.

“Thank you, President Trump! I’m honored and humbled by your support, as always,” Johnson wrote. “Together, we will quickly deliver on your America First agenda and usher in the new golden age of America. The American people demand and deserve that we waste no time. Let’s get to work!”

Trump’s message of support followed an apparent rift between the two men after the incoming president and his wealthiest backer, Elon Musk, torpedoed a short-term spending deal Johnson reached with the Democrats to keep the government open and avoid a shutdown.

Trump, who has tasked Musk with leading a review of government spending after Trump begins the second White House term he won in November, then called for an increase in the federal debt ceiling. But he was stymied by a rebellion of 38 fiscally conservative House Republicans who voted against a revised bill.

A last-minute bill was eventually passed that did not meet Trump’s demands for a debt-ceiling increase.

The affair exposed Johnson’s difficulties in balancing how to meet Trump’s demands while commanding a tiny majority in the House of Representatives. That majority could, in effect, be reduced to just one in the coming months after the resignation of several Republican House members to take up posts in the incoming Trump administration.

Johnson’s survival as speaker has been thrown into doubt after the rightwing congressman from Kentucky Thomas Massie said he would not support him. And several other conservative members declined to commit their backing to Johnson.

One of them, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, suggested Republican House members would wait to see what Trump would do before deciding whether to mount a challenge.

“It’s going to be more up to Trump than anybody else. He’s going to weigh in on it, I’m sure,” he said before Congress went into recess for the festive holidays.

Congress is due to certify Trump’s presidential election victory on 6 January, three days after the speaker is scheduled to be elected. Failure to have a new speaker in place by then could delay the certification process.