House Speaker Paul Ryan had withheld his endorsement from Donald Trump before getting on board weeks later. | Getty Ryan cozies up to Trump The speaker and GOP nominee will appear together on the campaign trail for the first time.

Paul Ryan has kept his distance from Donald Trump all year long — occasionally taking him to task, only reluctantly endorsing him and rarely uttering the presidential nominee's name at the Republican National Convention. But that all changes on Saturday when the two hit the campaign trail together for the first time — an appearance that could reverberate politically for the House speaker beyond the weekend event in Wisconsin.

It’s a big shift for Ryan, who many believe has his own White House ambitions. Maintaining daylight from Trump has given Ryan some plausible separation from Trump — especially if the real estate mogul loses big and Ryan seeks to lead a post-2016 GOP rebuilding effort. The difference between endorsing Trump on paper and being photographed with him onstage — assuming Saturday's event produces such a moment — is significant.


Ryan’s political advisers insist they're not worried. They say voters know Ryan well enough that they won't see him as a Trump apologist regardless of a campaign appearance. Ryan views his job now as helping defeat Hillary Clinton and keep Congress under Republican control, the aides told POLITICO — and appearing with Trump is part of that.

Ryan's team also downplayed the weekend event, arguing that while he has spoken out when he disagrees with Trump, the speaker has long supported Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence. Ryan met with Trump in Washington earlier this year and helped arrange a meeting between the House Republican Conference and the nominee, the sources said.

Some hesitance appears to remain, however: In a news release put out by Ryan’s political operation, Trump's appearance was announced almost as an aside. It listed details of the event — the 1st Congressional District Republican Party of Wisconsin Fall Fest — and the other politicians attending, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, several top Republican state officials and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who’s facing a tough reelection this fall.

After that, it read: "Presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump will also join Wisconsin Republicans" at the festival.

“All questions related to Mr. Trump should be directed to the Trump campaign," the release continued.

Sources told POLITICO that Trump's campaign initially asked to campaign with Ryan. The speaker responded by inviting Trump to join him and several other politicians to the annual event in Ryan’s district.

Ryan has been more upbeat about Trump in recent days that he had been. The speaker complimented Trump's performance in the first debate, even as other Capitol Hill Republicans said it was severely lacking. And he refused to chastise Trump after he criticized a former Miss Universe for gaining weight.

By contrast, after Trump clinched the nomination this spring, Republicans wary of their new standard-bearer praised Ryan for using his platform to counter Trump’s most controversial comments. When Trump initially declined to disavow a white supremacist’s support, Ryan said people like David Duke are not welcome in the Republican Party. When Trump questioned whether a judge could impartially preside over a case involving Trump University because of his Mexican roots, Ryan called it “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

And when Trump proposed blocking all Muslims from entering the U.S., Ryan said the proposal infringed on the Constitution and Republican values.