Trump considers attending GOP's House speaker forum in first post-Jan. 6 Capitol appearance: Sources
Former President Donald Trump is considering attending House Republicans' candidate forum for speaker next week, multiple sources familiar with his thinking told ABC News.
The sources, however, cautioned that nothing is finalized and his plans could change.
The closed-door candidate forum is scheduled for Tuesday. There, lawmakers will make their pitch for why others should elect them speaker to succeed ousted leader Kevin McCarthy.
If Trump were to make an appearance at the event, it would mark his first time on Capitol Hill since the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters, who stormed the complex as Congress had gathered to certify Trump's 2020 election defeat. (Trump denies all wrongdoing related to Jan. 6.)
Trump remains hugely popular with the conservative base and is influential in how some GOP lawmakers act. Some members of the Republican conference have floated his name for speaker, though Trump initially maintained publicly that it wasn't his priority -- before reversing course.
"I'll do whatever it is to help. But my focus, my total focus, is being president," he told reporters earlier this week, also saying: "We have some great people in the Republican Party that could do a great job as speaker."
Then on Thursday, in a statement to Fox News, he said that he would agree to serve as speaker "for a short period of time" and "do it if necessary, should they [Republicans] not be able to make their decision."
Trump was previously nominated during the rounds of voting for speaker in January, in which McCarthy was ultimately elected. He got one vote.
The House Republican conference rules also would seem to bar Trump from being their speaker: According to Rule 26, GOP leaders have to step aside if they are indicted for a felony that carries prison time of two years or more -- as Trump could under his criminal charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The Constitution does not require that the speaker of the House be a sitting representative, but every past speaker has been.
McCarthy was removed from the speakership on Tuesday in a historic vote led by a rebellious faction of his own party, who were joined by the Democratic minority.
An interim speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., has since been named until an internal election can be held for McCarthy's replacement. The chamber recessed soon after McCarthy was booted and is in uncharted territory.
Among the Republicans who have said they are seeking to be speaker are House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
