Trump Rankles MAGA by Backing Mike Johnson for House Speaker Amid Congressional Disputes

President-elect Donald Trump (R) has endorsed Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) to again serve as Speaker of the House for the upcoming Congress.

Lawmakers are set to reconvene later this week, and electing a Speaker will be their first priority. Without a Speaker in place, the House cannot move forward with critical business, including election certification.

The move has caused considerable consternation among conservative commentators, including some of the president-elects most ardent supporters, who viewed Speaker Johnson’s handling of the pre-Christmas spending package as a massive betrayal of Trump’s priorities.

In a statement posted to Truth Social Monday morning, president-elect Trump heavily criticized Democrats while simultaneously urging Republicans to make the most of the opportunity given to them by the voters.

“We are the Party of COMMON SENSE, a primary reason that we WON, in a landslide, the magnificent and historic Presidential Election of 2024,” Trump wrote. “ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, 312 ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES, AND THE POPULAR VOTE BY MILLIONS OF VOTERS (Despite large scale voter fraud taking place in numerous states, including California, where votes are ridiculously still being counted, or under review!), ALL WON WITH EASE, CALM, & PROFESSIONALISM.”

“Republicans are being praised for having run a ‘legendary’ campaign! Democrats are being excoriated for their effort, having wasted 2.5 Billion Dollars, much of it unaccounted for, with some being used to illegally buy endorsements ($11,000,000 to Beyoncé, who never even sang a song, $2,000,000 to Oprah for doing next to nothing, and even $500,000 to Reverend AL, a professional con man and instigator, who agreed to “interview” their “star spangled” candidates, Kamala and Joe),” he wrote.

“We ran a flawless campaign, having spent FAR LESS, with lots of money left over,” Trump continued. “They ran a very expensive ‘sinking ship,’ embracing DOJ & FBI WEAPONIZATION against their political opponent, ME.”

“BUT IT DIDN’T WORK, IT WAS A DISASTER!!! LETS NOT BLOW THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHICH WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN,” said Trump. “The American people need IMMEDIATE relief from all of the destructive policies of the last Administration.”

“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man,” Trump concluded. “He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!”

Johnson rose from relative obscurity to become House Speakler in October of 2023 after a roughly three-week period in which the House operated without a Speaker, beginning when Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted via a motion to vacate filed by Rep. Matt Geatz (R-Fla.).

This kicked off an arduous process in which the House Republican Caucus went through multiple unsuccessful candidates for the Speakership. Ultimately, Johnson was elected as Speaker with unanimous support from the House Republican Caucus.

[RELATED: Mike Johnson Elected As Speaker of the House With Unanimous Support From Republican Caucus]

This time around Johnson’s ability to maintain his seat has been called into question, particularly in light of the controversy over the 1,500-page spending bill he negotiated in the face of a looming government shutdown.

After lawmakers rejected both this and a drastically cut version just more than 100 pages in length, a somewhat pared down stopgap bill was eventually approved by both chambers. However, Johnson relied almost entirely on Democratic votes, including the votes of Maine’s Democratic Members of Congress, to get the deal done.

The original 1,500-page legislation negotiated by Johnson drew harsh criticism from many Republicans and some newly minted MAGA leaders—including incoming chiefs of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—for being wasteful and inappropriate.

[RELATED: 1,500-Plus Page Continuing Resolution Needed to Avoid Gov’t Shutdown Includes Billions in Storm Relief and Pay Raise for Lawmakers]

If a new House Speaker is not elected by Friday, and House Republicans are unable to rally behind a candidate by Inauguration Day, the nation could see the president pro tempore of the Senate—the most senior member of the majority party in the Senate—assume the role of “acting president” until the election results are certified.

According to Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram, this would mean that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) would “likely” assume the role if this were to happen.