House Speaker Paul Ryan opted not to endorse presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump following their meeting Thursday morning, saying he wants to make sure they “truly understand each other” and that Trump is committed to conservative principals.
“It’s very important that we don’t fake unifying, we don’t pretend unification, that we truly and actually unify so that we are full strength in the fall – I don’t want us to have a fake unification process here,” he said at his weekly press briefing. “I want to make sure that we really, truly understand each other and that we are committed to the conservative principles that make the Republican party, that built this country – and again I’m very encouraged.”
The Wisconsin Republican said the talk was productive, but the process of getting to know candidate and lay out a plan to unify the party takes more than 45 minutes. He said it’s no secret the two disagree on a number of issues, but he was encouraged by what he heard and their working relationship is headed in a “positive direction.”
“There are policy disputes that we will have – there’s no two ways about it,” he said. “Plenty of Republicans disagree with one another on policy disputes. On core principles, those are the things we discussed and again I’m encouraged.”
During an appearance on CNN last Thursday, Ryan said he was not ready to endorse the presumptive nominee.
Trump also met with other members of GOP leadership and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus Thursday.
Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.