Mike Johnson to Meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago Amid Spokesperson Threat

House Speaker Mike Johnson is heading to former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a joint appearance on Friday as he tries to shore up conservative support and fend off a threat to his speakership led by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Greene threatened to force a vote to impeach Johnson over government spending and aid to Ukraine, although no other House Republicans joined the effort. Johnson was narrowly elected after several other candidates failed to secure the gavel last year, and Republicans now have an even narrower margin in the House. A single member can force a vote to remove a House speaker, a rule that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to to win his short-lived term.

Johnson and Trump are scheduled to deliver remarks Friday afternoon at Mar-a-Lago on “election integrity.” Trump continues to falsely claim that he lost the 2020 election due to voter fraud.

The Biden campaign released a statement from Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, calling Trump “a threat to our democracy and a danger to our Constitution.”

“Donald Trump and Mike Johnson don’t care about election integrity – they only care about helping Trump’s campaign of revenge and retribution regain power at all costs,” Thompson said.

Back in Washington, Greene has not said when she might force a vote on Johnson’s impeachment. His opposition comes as Johnson faces increasing pressure to call a vote on approving more aid to Ukraine, something Greene strongly opposes. Green renewed his threat in a letter this week.

Johnson said the Christian Broadcasting Network earlier this week that he did not “nurture any ill will toward Marjorie” but said congressional gridlock is counterproductive to the Republican Party and Trump’s chances in 2024. The House was paralyzed for weeks following the impeachment of McCarthy in the fall.

“We have to demonstrate to the American people that we can keep the train on the tracks,” he told CBN. “And so to file a motion to vacate, to remove the speaker of the House right now, is exactly the opposite of what we need to show the country. We cannot close Congress, because that is what will happen. it would harm our chances of increasing the majority, or our party’s, or President Trump’s chances of being elected, because all of our destinies, in some sense, are intertwined.”

Johnson’s Mar-a-Lago adventure is reminiscent of McCarthy’s visit to Mar-a-Lago weeks after Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, endangering members of Congress and the vice president Mike Pence. McCarthy initially blamed Trump for the riot, but needed Trump’s support to eventually become speaker of the House.

Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report.