House Speaker Paul Ryan said it will "take some time" for the Republican Party to fully unify after a meeting with presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
"This is a process. We just began this process," Ryan told reporters after his closed door meeting with Trump at the Republican National Committee office Thursday morning.
Calling the controversial businessman and political neophyte "a really warm and genuine person," Ryan reminded reporters that "we really don't know each other" and "in 45 minutes you don't litigate all the processes and all of the issues."
"I actually had a very pleasant meeting," Ryan said, calling his meeting with Trump, whom he still refuses to endorse, "an encouraging start."
We are "planting the seeds to get ourselves unified, to bridge the gaps and differences," Ryan said optimistically, describing his talk with Trump as a "productive conversation."
Trump "is bringing a new wing" to the Republican Party, Ryan strained to praise his candidate, calling it "a good thing."
"The question is can we unify on common core principles?"
"We talked about those differences today," Ryan told reporters, explaining that he and Trump discussed the Constitution and the Supreme Court, adding that they also had "a good exchange of views" on abortion and limited government.
Ryan said he was "confident" the Trump and party leadership will be able to "unify on common core principles" because Republicans have to "get ourselves to full strength in the fall because the stakes could not be higher."
RNC Chair Reince Priebus, who also attended the meeting with Trump, described "a mood of cooperation and a feeling that it's time to unify the party," afterwards on MSNBC.
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