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Trump, Ryan to Meet Next Week


Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, May 5, 2016.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, May 5, 2016.

Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have agreed to meet next week, but the presumptive Republican presidential nominee doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic.

Trump said that he had "no idea'' if the talks to bridge the party's divide over his nomination would succeed and that it didn't really matter that much to him.

"The thing that matters most are the millions of people that have come out to vote for me and give me a landslide victory in almost every state,'' he said.

Trump said he told Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus that Ryan's comments in refusing to endorse him were "totally inappropriate," but he agreed to the party leader's desire for a meeting.

House Speaker Paul Ryan joins Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, left, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., center, at a campaign rally for Johnson in Burlington, Wis., May 5, 2016.
House Speaker Paul Ryan joins Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, left, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., center, at a campaign rally for Johnson in Burlington, Wis., May 5, 2016.

Ryan announced Friday that he and other members of the House Republican leadership will meet with Trump Thursday morning.

He said talk will center on "the kind of Republican principles and ideas that can win the support of the American people this November.''

Just days after Trump essentially clinched the GOP presidential nomination with a win in Indiana's primary, Ryan said he was "not ready" to support Trump because of questions about his commitment to conservatism.

Trump responded with a statement saying he is not prepared to back Ryan's agenda. He took on Ryan on Twitter Friday, saying: "Paul Ryan said that I inherited something very special, the Republican Party. Wrong, I didn't inherit it, I won it with millions of voters!"

FILE - Former President George W. Bush, right, talks with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, during the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, April 25, 2013. Father and son say they will not be endorsing Donald Trump'
FILE - Former President George W. Bush, right, talks with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, during the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, April 25, 2013. Father and son say they will not be endorsing Donald Trump'

Ryan isn't the only one who has refused to endorse the businessman-turned-presidential hopeful.

According to The Wall Street Journal, only 12 of the 300 Republicans serving in the House and Senate, and three of the 31 Republican governors, have endorsed Trump.

The party's last two White House occupants, President George H.W. Bush and his son, President George W. Bush, say they will sit out the 2016 campaign and not even comment on it.

The party's last two losing presidential nominees, Arizona Senator John McCain in 2008 and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2012, both said they, like the Bushes, also plan to skip the party's July national convention where Trump will be officially nominated.

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