Trump says Mike Johnson will ‘easily remain speaker’ if he acts ‘decisively and tough’ on spending bill

EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that House Speaker Mike Johnson will “easily remain speaker” for the next Congress if he “acts decisively and tough” and eliminates “all of the traps being set by Democrats” in the spending package. 

Fox News Digital spoke exclusively with the president-elect Thursday morning, just hours after the bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown was killed. 

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“Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” Trump told Fox News Digital. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Wednesday night. The two spoke about the potential continuing resolution for about an hour. Vance said the two had a “productive conversation,” and said he believes they will “be able to solve some problems here” and will continue “working on it.” 

The chaos surrounding the effort to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown is putting the upcoming speaker vote in focus, as Johnson has struggled to keep the party fully united. 

But the president-elect told Fox News Digital that Johnson will “easily” keep his role as speaker. 

“If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump told Fox News Digital. 

The speaker vote is set for Jan. 3, 2025. 

The now-dead-on-arrival 1,547-page bill was set to be a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2024 government funding levels, aimed at giving lawmakers more time to agree on funding the rest of FY 2025 by the Friday deadline.

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In addition to funding the government through March 14, the bill included more than $100 billion in disaster aid to help Americans affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. It also included $10 billion in economic relief for farmers, as well as health care reform measures and a provision aimed at revitalizing Washington, D.C.’s RFK stadium and its surrounding campus.

The bill also proposed a pay raise for members of Congress. 

Members of the House Freedom Caucus said they felt blindsided by what they saw as unrelated policy riders being added to the bill in last-minute negotiations.

Several GOP lawmakers granted anonymity to speak freely said Johnson would see challenges to his speakership bid in early January over the matter.

Sources said top Republicans like House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., were mentioned in early talks about alternatives.

But a person close to Donalds told Fox News Digital in response, “At this time, the congressman has not made any statements regarding the future of House leadership.”

And a spokesperson for Emmer told Fox News Digital, “Whip Emmer supports Speaker Johnson and is focused on doing the job he was elected to do.”

And a source close to Jordan told Fox News Digital that the Ohio Republican is “not interested in challenging Johnson.”

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report.