Trump to meet with McCarthy on Thursday

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will visit with former President Trump at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey on Thursday, Trump said in a statement.

McCarthy will travel to Bedminster for his second in-person meeting with Trump since he left office in January. McCarthy previously met with Trump at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“Much to discuss!” Trump said in a statement.

The two men have projected a united front about their desire to return Republicans to the majority in the House. Trump is not interested in becoming Speaker, however, after the idea was floated in some circles that the former president could be voted into the job if Republicans retake the House in 2022.

McCarthy’s multiple visits to Trump’s properties reflect the influence the former president still holds over the House GOP caucus in particular, as dozens of House Republicans have traveled to Trump properties or the southern border to meet with him.

The former president has in recent weeks criticized Republicans for going along with negotiations on a bipartisan infrastructure plan but has otherwise continued to spread false claims about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

McCarthy has struggled to distance himself and his caucus from Trump’s false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. The GOP leader said he did not believe “anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election” following a meeting with President Biden in May, even as Trump has put out statements casting doubt on the results for months.

McCarthy must now decide who to appoint to a select committee established to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the building to halt the certification of Biden’s victory.