House speaker endorses Trump

Associated Press

JANESVILLE, Wis.

House Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed Donald Trump’s bid for president Thursday, bringing an end to the extraordinary public split between the GOP’s presumptive White House nominee and the nation’s top Republican in office.

“I had friends wishing I wouldn’t support him. I had friends wishing I would,” Ryan said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “I really didn’t feel any pressure, other than my goal is to make sure that we’re unified so that we’re at full strength in the fall so we can win the election.”

The Wisconsin Republican’s announcement, made in a newspaper column published in his Wisconsin hometown, marks a significant step for a Republican Party trying to come together ahead of a general election matchup against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

And Ryan made clear he had Clinton on his mind when he decided to join the ranks of Republicans who have slowly come around to backing Trump, the brash billionaire few expected to emerge as the party’s nominee when the campaign began in earnest last year.

“This, to me, is about saving the country and preventing a third progressive, liberal term, which is what a Clinton presidency would do,” Ryan said.

Trump celebrated the endorsement on his favorite venue, Twitter.

“So great to have the endorsement and support of Paul Ryan,” Trump wrote. “We will both be working very hard to Make America Great Again!”

There are still some GOP leaders who say they won’t support Trump, including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.