President-elect Donald Trump addresses House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
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President-elect Donald Trump addressed jubilant House Republicans on Wednesday morning, delivering triumphant remarks centered around his own electoral victory and drawing laughter when he hinted that they could pave the way for him to serve a third term in office.
Fresh off elections that put them on track to reclaim the House majority, Republicans greeted Trump with a standing ovation in a closed-door meeting in a hotel near the Capitol. It came just before his meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
“Isn’t it nice to win?” Trump asked to raucous applause.
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Trump Jokes About Third Term
He later added: “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out.’” (The Constitution limits presidents to two terms, though Trump has mused before about circumventing that restriction.)
Trump, who has so far tapped two House Republican lawmakers to serve in his Cabinet, depleting the party’s already narrow expected margin of control, also ribbed the group about wanting “15 members” from their ranks to serve in his administration. He promised he would stagger the appointments, taking only a few at a time. Republicans are now on track to have a single-digit majority in the House that could make it extraordinarily difficult for their leaders to accomplish anything.
During the meeting, Trump offered his support for Speaker Mike Johnson, who is expected to be renominated as the top Republican in the House later Wednesday, saying he was “with him all the way.”
Joining him at the meeting was Elon Musk, the billionaire who has ascended to a position of wide-ranging influence in Trump’s transition and Tuesday was given the task of leading an effort to make the government smaller and more efficient. Musk sat in the front row among the lawmakers and next to Johnson’s wife. He received a standing ovation when Trump complimented him.
Trump later joked that Musk, who has become a ubiquitous presence around the president-elect, just wouldn’t go away, according to lawmakers who attended.
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Catie Edmondson, Karoun Demirjian and Maya C. Miller/Eric Lee
c. 2024 The New York Times Company