Paul D. Ryan as Trump translator

For a moment, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan seemed to be in the clear.

Amid the now-typical deluge of questions for Mr. Ryan about the latest explosive comment from Mr. Trump, a reporter acknowledged the speaker’s standard reply: that he does not tend to comment on the “tweet of the day.”

“You got my talking points down already!” Mr. Ryan said, perking up.

He did elaborate, though, steering clear of any remark that could be construed as a knock on the president.

On the subject of Mr. Trump’s insistence that the news media had willfully ignored or played down international terrorist attacks: “I can’t speak to whether or not you’re over or underreporting something. That’s your job. I’ll stick with doing mine.”

On Mr. Trump attacking who he called the “so-called judge” responsible for blocking the president’s immigration order: “Look, he’s not the first president to get frustrated with a ruling from a court.”

On the uncertainty wrought by the president’s recent suggestion that the Affordable Care Act might not be replaced until next year: “I think there’s a little confusion here.”

The legislative process will have played out this year, Mr. Ryan said. “The question is, how long does it take to implement the full replacement of Obamacare?”