After endorsement, Trump puts Ryan to the test

Ryan reprimanded the presumptive presidential nominee 24 hours after belatedly coming out and backing him for the White House following a hold out over concerns about Trump’s commitment to conservative principles and his habit of spouting provocative rhetoric on the trail.

Ryan’s embarrassment was over comments by Trump that a federal judge presiding over a lawsuit filed against Trump University was biased because he is of Mexican descent and probably opposes the candidate’s immigration policies.

The Trump action and Ryan reaction suggests the nominee can probably expect minimal blowback in the future. Warily or not, the GOP has accepted its new leader and is rallying behind him to keep Democrat Hillary Clinton out of the Oval Office.

“It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind,” Ryan wrote in an op-ed published in his hometown newspaper. “But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement.”

Trump responded on Twitter. “So great to have the endorsement and support of Paul Ryan. We will both be working very hard to Make America Great Again!”

Ryan and Trump for months had fought for control of the Republican Party.

Ryan climbed the ladder of power over 15 years pushing reforms that included overhauling third-rail programs like Medicare and Social Security. He advocated for a message that was civil and sensitive to ethnic minorities. Trump won the 2016 nomination on the strength of brash rhetoric and a platform that includes maintaining entitlement programs as-is and forcibly rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants.

Ryan became more comfortable with Trump as the GOP standard bearer, sources close to the speaker told the Washington Examiner, after one face-to-face meeting and multiple telephone conversations.

In those discussions, Trump expressed enough support for an expansive House Republican policy agenda that Ryan is scheduled to unveil on Tuesday to win his endorsement.

“He has a lot of confidence that Donald Trump will be helpful for us with our agenda,” a Ryan source said. Trump’s proposed list of potential nominees to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia went a long way toward smoothing things over, this source added.

Ryan sources concede that his leadership position didn’t afford him the luxury of never endorsing Trump. Even as Ways and Means chairman, the influential post Ryan held before becoming speaker last October, he would have had options.

But these sources counter claims by some that Ryan felt pressure to endorse from other House Republicans, given the fact that his entire leadership team, his friend Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, were already on board.

And, they emphasize that Ryan is satisfied that his resistance, a stunning move at the time he announced it one month ago, accomplished much.

In particular, Ryan believes that he has secured a commitment from Trump to sign into law if he’s elected president a collection of House GOP reforms that reflect the speaker’s brand of conservatism even though some measures could run counter to the nominee’s populist impulses.

“It was in typical Paul fashion, focus on the policy instead of the politics. We will see if Trump keeps his commitment to actually let Paul lead on it,” said a Republican strategist who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.

Other Republican insiders suggest Ryan was navigating a more treacherous political path. As one House Republican explained in an interview with the Examiner, Ryan’s caucus was steadily solidifying behind Trump, as were most of their constituents. Over time, that was putting him in a somewhat awkward position.

“All the Republicans are supporting Trump. In my district, my voters say I might not like the guy but I’m voting for him over Clinton,” the House Republican said. “But I think Ryan played it smart because Trump was kind of forced to embrace what we’re doing.”

While the positions Trump has staked out on domestic issues and international affairs are unorthodox, his habit of attacking opponents with crude and controversial rhetoric is what causes fellow Republican politicians heartburn.

It’s among Ryan’s biggest complaints with Trump, and why a considerable though dwindling number of House and Senate Republicans, not to mention prominent GOP governors, have declined to endorse him thus far.

Trump’s attack on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel is just the latest example. Curiel is presiding over a lawsuit brought against Trump University by former students who are claiming that real estate seminar program was essentially a boiler room designed to take their money. Trump has been personally named in the lawsuit.

Trump previously charged that Curiel was out to get him, suggesting it was because of the judge’s parents were Mexican immigrants, despite the fact that he was born and raised in the U.S. After Curiel released previously sealed documents in the Trump University lawsuit, after a motion was filed by the Washington Post, Trump escalated his attacks.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump said in an interview that Curiel has “an absolute conflict” of interest because of his “Mexican heritage” and a membership in a Hispanic lawyers group. Trump said Curiel is conflicted because he has taken a tough stance on border security and vowed to end illegal immigration.

“I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest,” Trump told the Journal.

Like clockwork, Ryan was asked what he thought about Trump’s comments, as were other Republicans, and of course Ryan denounced them, as he has every other time the reality television star said something similarly inflammatory.

And yet none of the previous incidents, such as Trump pitching a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the U.S., or initially declining to disavow white supremacist groups, halted Trump’s march to the nomination.

Nor are his statements about Curiel likely to cost him the endorsements of GOP leaders already backing him, let alone freeze things in place.

Part of Ryan’s delay and decision to announce his endorsement of Trump quietly with an op-ed in the Janesville Gazette was to give cover to House Republicans who weren’t ready to endorse the presumptive nominee. “The lower tone of his announcement was done to soften any negative reaction that could occur in certain Republican-held districts,” said Ron Bonjean, a former House GOP leadership aide.

It also allowed Ryan to establish concern about Trump for the political record should it be needed later if his candidacy goes south and threatens to take the entire ticket down with it.

But in the end, Trump wins. Republicans aren’t offering any meaningful punishment for the New Yorker’s supposedly unacceptable rhetoric, in part because they have no leverage or any tool to punish him with. Sure enough, Trump stood by his comments during an interview with CNN on Friday.

“He’s proud of his heritage. I respect him for that,” Trump said. “He’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.”