Trump signals support for key MTG demand amid her threats to oust Johnson
Former President Trump appears to be showing some support for a key demand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has made of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., amid her threats to force a House-wide vote on the GOP leader's ouster.
Greene took to social media on Tuesday evening to share a photo of a document shared with her by Trump. It shows an image of a reporter's X post citing Johnson's comments in a Tuesday morning press conference that the House was "looking very intently" at ways to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe into the former president.
Underneath the post is what appears to be Trump's handwriting with the brief inscription, "Great!" followed by his signature.
Greene's office told Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning that the message was sent to Greene by Trump. Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Trump for further comment.
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"I'm fighting for President Trump, our Republican majority, and every person who believes in our America First agenda. Proud to have the support of President Trump, and he has mine!" Greene wrote when sharing the message on X.
Defunding the special counsel's office is one of several demands Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., shared with Johnson earlier this week.
Johnson, who has insisted he is not negotiating with the GOP rebels, similarly appeared to show support for the idea while downplaying their role in promoting it.
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"There's discussion this week, as there has been for a long, long time, about what is the most effective way for Congress to take the reins of that and ensure that the special counsels are not abusing the law themselves," Johnson said Tuesday morning. "There's a lot of ideas about that. Discussions this week are nothing new, but we're looking very intently at it because I think the problem has reached a crescendo."
The most likely place for that funding battle would be the looming fiscal year 2025 government funding talks, but Republicans face an uphill battle getting it across the finish line. Any proposal to defund Smith's probe is likely to die in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Massie and Greene, along with Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., are threatening to force a House-wide vote on Johnson's ouster via a procedure known as a motion to vacate the chair.
The push has fallen mostly flat among the House Republican conference, however, where even the speaker's critics in the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus have shown little appetite for another three weeks of chaos like what followed the ouster of ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
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Trump himself has voiced support for Johnson both publicly and privately amid Greene's ouster threats.
"It’s not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do," Trump said earlier this month to radio host John Fredericks, citing Johnson's razor-thin House majority. "I think he’s a very good person. You know, he stood very strongly with me on NATO when I said NATO has to pay up… It’s a tough situation when you have. I think he’s a very good man. I think he’s trying very hard."
He also referenced the November elections just six months away.
Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., another Trump ally, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, "I was with President Trump over the weekend. He's with Mike Johnson."
"He thinks he's doing his best in a difficult situation," Meuser said when asked for details of their conversation. Of the motion to vacate, Meuser said of Trump, "I think he would prefer that not to occur right now."
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson's office for comment on Greene's push.