House Speaker Paul Ryan, calling Donald Trump's victory the "most incredible political feat I have seen in my lifetime," said that the victory came because so many Americans do not like the direction their country has taken.
"Many of our fellow citizens feel alienated and have lost faith in our core institutions," said Ryan during a press conference Wednesday. "They don't feel heard, and they don't feel represented by those in office. But Donald Trump heard a voice in this country no one else heard. He connected in ways with people no one else did. He turned politics on its head. And now Donald Trump will lead a unified Republican government."
Ryan said Republican leaders will work on a positive agenda to tackle the country's challenges, and also congratulated his "friend Mike Pence" as a "good man, a principled conservative and he will make a great vice president."
He also congratulated Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, saying that "what he has done to rebuild our party is remarkable."
Republicans have won a much larger House majority than expected, and much of that is due to Trump, said Ryan.
"Donald Trump provided the kinds of coat tails that got a lot of people over the finish line, so we can maintain our strong House and Senate majorities," said Ryan. "Now we have important work to do. Many months ago Republicans in the House united around a bold, specific agenda for this country. And offered a better way forward for America, and it will help us hit the ground running as we work with Donald Trump to do this."
Trump's election will help bring the kind of unified Republican government leaders set out to deliver, Ryan said. "There is no doubt our democracy can be messy. And we remain a sharply divided country."
Ryan said he's spoken to Trump twice in the past 18 hours, and to Pence as well, and "we are going to hit the ground running. We are talking about getting our transitions together."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.