President-elect Donald J. 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 Mr. Trump with a standing ovation in a closed-door meeting in a hotel near the Capitol. It came just ahead of his meeting with President Biden at the White House.
“Isn’t it nice to win?” Mr. Trump asked to raucous applause.
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 Mr. Trump has mused before about circumventing that restriction.)
Mr. 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, Mr. Trump offered his support for Speaker Mike Johnson, who is expected to be renominated as the top Republican in the House later on 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 Mr. Trump’s transition and was given on Tuesday the task of leading an effort to make the government smaller and more efficient. Mr. Musk sat in the front row among the lawmakers and next to Mr. Johnson’s wife. He received a standing ovation when Mr. Trump complimented him.
Mr. Trump later joked that Mr. 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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