The two men held their much-anticipated tete-a-tete today in Washington, D.C., after which they released a carefully crafted joint statement that one astute observer compared to a session of couples therapy. The warring impulses on display, barely concealed beneath a passive-aggressive veneer of cooperation and good faith, almost reads like a dialogue, with one person stressing the need for a unified ideological vision and the other attempting to rally the troops against a common enemy.
Trump: The United States cannot afford another four years of the Obama White House, which is what Hillary Clinton represents.
Ryan: This is why it’s critical that Republicans unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda ...
Trump: ... and do all we can to win this fall. With that focus we had a great conversation this morning.
Ryan: While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground. We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party ...
Trump: ... and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal. We are extremely proud of the fact that many millions of new voters have entered the primary system, far more than ever before in the Republican Party’s history.
Ryan: This was our first meeting, but it was a very positive step toward unification.
Exeunt.