White House press secretary Sarah Sanders informed reporters on Thursday that President Donald Trump recently told House Speaker Paul Ryan that he would be displeased if Ryan retires in 2018.
Reports came out in several news outlets on Thursday that Ryan is considering not running for re-election in 2018. A source close to Ryan confirmed to Breitbart News that he is considering not running in 2018.
During Thursday’s White House press briefing, Sanders was asked if the president has spoken to Ryan about these reports and whether the president wants to see Ryan continue as speaker.
“The president did speak to the speaker not too long ago,” replied Sanders. She said that President Trump “made sure that the speaker knew very clearly and in no uncertain terms that if that news was true, he was very unhappy with it.”
Sanders relayed Ryan’s response as well, saying that Ryan assured the president that these “were not accurate reports and that they look forward to working together for a long time.”
Asked if these reports caught Trump by surprise, Sanders shot back, “It sounds like it may have caught Speaker Ryan by surprise because I don’t think it was very accurate reporting.”
She said it sounds like the two men are looking forward to spending much more time together, “hopefully” in the next seven to eight years.
Ryan was voted in as speaker after former Speaker John Boehner was ousted from the position.
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