U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends the Turning Point USA Festival at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Rebecca Noble | Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump said he will attend the state funeral next week for former US President Jimmy Carter, who died at 100 on Sunday, and predicted that only House Speaker Mike Johnson could win a vote for the House’s top job.
While attending a New Year’s Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Tuesday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he planned to attend Carter’s funeral on January 9 at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.
“I do. I’ll be there. We’re invited,” Trump said, declining to say whether he had spoken with Carter’s family since his death.
At a black-tie gala attended by billionaire tech executive Musk, Sen. Ted Cruz and other supporters, Trump was also asked about his response to Republicans who have not followed his lead and supported House Speaker Johnson’s re-election bid What’s the message?
The House of Representatives is scheduled to elect a speaker on Friday after the new Congress is sworn in. Trump’s support for Johnson on Monday is seen as key to Johnson’s hopes of retaining the job he takes office in October 2023.
But in December, 34 Republicans voted against Johnson’s temporary funding bill, raising questions about whether Johnson might struggle to win enough support for re-election.
“I think they’re going to support Speaker Johnson,” Trump told reporters. “He’s the one who’s winning right now. Almost everyone likes him. The other guys are good too, but there are 30 or 40 people who don’t like them.”
