Multiple news organizations reported that House Speaker Paul Ryan will be endorsing Donald Trump soon, but an aide to Ryan insisted on Wednesday morning that there is no such endorsement forthcoming.
Bloomberg News first reported the news late Tuesday night, and said the Wisconsin congressman has begun telling confidants he wants to end the standoff with Trump because he does not want the GOP to become too split.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, also told some Republican lawmakers the endorsement may come as early as this week. Senior level Trump campaign sources confirmed to ABC News Wednesday morning that the endorsement is forthcoming.
But a Ryan aide told the Washington Examiner, “We’ve not told the Trump campaign to expect an endorsement,”
Ryan and Paul still remain divided over a slew of major policy issues. The two have only met once on May 12, after Ryan declined to endorse Trump.
After the meeting, Ryan and Trump issued a joint statement calling for Republicans to “unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda and do all we can to win this fall.”
According to Bloomberg, aides of both Ryan and Trump have been meting behind the scenes over the past two weeks on those policy issues. It is unclear when that endorsement will happen, but Ryan does have a briefing on the House GOP agenda Wednesday.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the denial from a Ryan aide.
