Written by Nathan Lane
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – US President-elect Donald Trump said he will attend the state funeral of Jimmy Carter next week, the former US president who died on Sunday at the age of 100, and he expected that only House Speaker Mike Johnson would win. Vote for the highest position in the House of Representatives.
As Trump entered a New Year's Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home on Tuesday, a reporter asked him if he planned to attend Carter's (NYSE:) funeral at the National Cathedral on January 9. Washington, DC.
“Yes. I will be there. We were invited,” Trump said, declining to reveal whether he had spoken with any of Carter's family members since his death.
At the black-tie event attended by billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, Sen. Ted Cruz and other supporters, Trump was also asked what message he had to Republicans who did not follow his example and support House Speaker Johnson's re-election bid.
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 was considered key to Johnson's hopes of maintaining the position he will assume in October 2023.
But the move by thirty-four Republicans to vote against Johnson's temporary funding bill in December raised questions about whether Johnson might face difficulties in mustering enough support for re-election.
“I think they will support Prime Minister Johnson,” Trump told reporters. “He's the one who can win now. Almost everyone likes him. Some are very good too, but there are 30 or 40 people who don't like him.”
