Donald Trump doesn’t extend an olive branch to just anyone. Even John McCain has yet to receive an apology from that time last summer when Trump suggested McCain wasn’t a war hero because he spent most of Vietnam in a North Vietnamese prison camp. (Trump says he won’t say he’s sorry—his poll numbers went up 7 points after the comment.)
But House Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t just get a peace offering from Trump, he received a full-throated defense from the presumptive Republican nominee, ahead of Trump and Ryan’s “get to know you” meeting on Thursday.
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On Tuesday night, Trump appeared on The O’Reilly Factor and when the host suggested that Trump force Ryan to “fall in line,” Trump responded that Ryan was a “good man,” and that he’d prefer Ryan to stay chairman of the Republican National Convention.
A day earlier, Ryan offered to step down as convention chairman if Trump requested it. Trump responded by questioning Ryan’s credentials and declaring that he, himself, was “not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda.”
Ryan also, in comments made to the press Wednesday morning, appeared to be more congenial to Trump, noting that the party would be stronger against Hillary Clinton if the GOP was united and admitted that there might be a message for Republicans in Trump’s victories.
.@SpeakerRyan said the #GOP needs to unify because it "cannot afford to lose this election to #HillaryClinton." pic.twitter.com/oCgRww1Xx9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 11, 2016
The message may very well be to hold Trump at arm’s length—after all, a poll out Wednesday shows that Trump is less popular among Americans than the band Nickelback (which is, technically, Canadian)—but Ryan is at least going to give talking to Trump a try (even if it means he also has to endure a pre-conference with Trump surrogate Dr. Ben Carson).
The ball is in Ryan’s court. He is facing a home-district challenger (even if that challenger is something of a joke), and Trump on the ballot threatens down-ticket races; if Republicans lose the House, Ryan loses his Speaker position. Trump only stands to gain by pulling Ryan into his corner: he’ll earn the support of more conservative Republicans, and he’ll have demonstrated his credibility as a presidential contender if Ryan signs off on his nomination. Trump will also, in earning Ryan’s support, likely signal that he intends to soften his somewhat outlandish positions on things like tax reform and trade.
But Trump will have to sacrifice a key component of his appeal to form an alliance with Ryan. He’ll have to admit that the Republican “Establishment,” at least as he and his acolytes define it, has some good ideas. Most of Trump’s social media followers, at least, seem impervious to the suggestion that Trump’s platform is malleable.
