Leave convention??

Ryan would leave convention post if Trump asked him to

By RACHAEL BADE

Paul Ryan on Monday said he'd step down as the chairman of the Republican National Convention if Donald Trump asks him to, a concession that comes amid escalating tensions between the two men following the Speaker's decision to withhold support from the presumptive nominee.

The Wisconsin Republican, who was doing a round of local press to kick off the week, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a sit-down interview that he would step aside should the New York billionaire make that request.

"He's the nominee. I'll do whatever he wants with respect to the convention," Ryan told the newspaper.

When asked over the weekend about whether he would try to remove Ryan from his convention post, Trump left the possibility open but did not explicitly call for the speaker to vacate the position that essentially runs the main GOP event in July, when Republicans will officially choose their nominee.

Trump and Ryan will meet face-to-face in Washington on Thursday to see if they can hash out their differences following a bombshell interview Ryan gave last week in which he said Trump still has to mend fences and earn his support.

Ryan is wary of Trump's rhetoric as well as his policy pitches that have included temporarily banning Muslims from the U.S. and putting up trade barriers that Ryan thinks would hurt the economy. And Ryan has strongly objected to Trump's comments about Hispanics and his refusal to initially disavow support from white supremacist David Duke.

Thursday's meeting at the RNC is supposed to be a last-ditch effort to bring the two men together and unite the party before the general election.

Ryan in his interview said he never ruled out supporting Trump completely and just wants "to get to know the guy." He hopes to do that Thursday.

"I never said never," he said, according to the paper. "I just said (not) at this point. I wish I had more time to get to know him before this happened. We just didn't."

In the same interview he also dismissed accusations that he is just trying to build his own brand for a White House bid in 2020, an accusation in part circulated by ex-GOP vice presidential contender Sarah Palin on Sunday.

"I would not have become speaker of the House if I had 2020 aspirations, he said. "If I really wanted to run for president, I could have run in 2012 and 2016. The speaker is not exactly a good stepping stone for president. I think people who know me know that is not my aspiration."