House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed that some White House staffers have jokingly bestowed a lofty title on him because of his close working relationship with President Donald Trump: “co-president.”
Johnson made the revelation during an interview with NOTUS, where the Republican speaker discussed the challenges of managing a deeply divided House GOP conference while operating with a razor-thin majority.
According to Johnson, those circumstances have required him to remain in near-constant communication with Trump as Republicans attempt to keep their agenda moving through Congress.
“Some on his staff have said, ‘No, it’s really like you’re co-president,’” Johnson told NOTUS. “Because the president and I speak all the time.”
Johnson also described his role as the hardest job “in the world,” pointing to the difficulties involved in keeping House Republicans united with such little room for defections.
The “co-president” characterization could prove noteworthy given Trump’s own comments about his role in managing congressional Republicans.
According to NOTUS, Trump privately declared in June that he was effectively performing Johnson’s duties in addition to serving as commander in chief.
“I have two jobs: being president and being speaker,” Trump reportedly said.
Despite the demanding political environment, Johnson appears confident about his future atop the House Republican conference. He predicted the GOP will maintain control of the chamber in the upcoming midterm elections and said he plans to remain speaker.
“We’re going to win,” Johnson told NOTUS.
“I intend to be the speaker going forward,” he added.
But Johnson’s political future could look much different if Republicans fail to hold onto their House majority.
NOTUS reported that Republicans throughout the House GOP conference — including some lawmakers in leadership — do not believe Johnson would seek the position of minority leader if Democrats capture control of the chamber.
Instead, those Republicans reportedly believe Johnson would step away from House leadership altogether.
One unnamed senior GOP member offered a particularly stark assessment of what could happen inside the Republican conference following an election defeat.
“In the political burn down that’s coming, we slaughter everybody at the front of the room,” the Republican told NOTUS.
For now, however, Johnson is publicly predicting victory and another term holding the speaker’s gavel.
His comments also highlight just how closely his political fortunes have become connected with Trump’s as Republicans head toward the midterms.
With a narrow House majority and a Republican conference that Johnson has acknowledged is difficult to keep together, the speaker says regular communication with Trump has become a central part of his job — enough that some White House staffers have apparently taken to describing him as the president’s unofficial governing partner.
Whether Johnson maintains his position after the midterms, however, could ultimately depend on whether Republicans can deliver the victory he confidently predicts.
