Donald Trump looks out on the crowd gathered for his campaign rally Friday in Green Bay, Wis. | AP Photo Donald Trump endorses Paul Ryan, John McCain The GOP nominee vows to be a 'big tent' Republican like Ronald Reagan.

Republican nominee Donald Trump endorsed Paul Ryan at his Friday night rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, just days after rattling the GOP by withholding his support for the House speaker in his primary.

"In our shared mission to make America great again, I support and endorse our Speaker of the House Paul Ryan," Trump said, stressing the need for party unity as he read from a set of notes on his podium. “We need unity. We have to win this election. This is truly one of the most important elections in my lifetime."


Acknowledging the need to work with Congress to accomplish his agenda, Trump went on to endorse Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, both of whom he also had pointedly declined to endorse in recent interviews.

“While I’m at it, I hold in the highest esteem Sen. John McCain for his service to our country in uniform and in public office and I fully support and endorse his reelection," Trump said.

Trump, who previously criticized McCain for being captured as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, enraged Republican Party officials earlier this week when he refused to endorse some of the party's leading lights. On Friday, citing Republican icon and former President Ronald Reagan, Trump reversed his position, stressing the need to bring back the GOP's "big tent."

“I need a Republican Senate and a House to accomplish all of the changes that we have to make,” the New York billionaire said. “So I embrace the wisdom that my 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy.”

Praising Ayotte as "a rising star" in the GOP, Trump touted the virtues of party unity.

“Working hand-in-hand we will grow our majority in the House and in the Senate,” he said. “Arm-in-arm we will rescue the nation from the Obama-Clinton disaster that has bled our country dry and spread terrorism unabated across the world.”

Ryan is expected to easily defeat his challenger, Paul Nehlen, but Trump’s hesitation to endorse the GOP's congressional leader raised new concerns this week as the party looked to project a unified front following the Republican National Convention.

In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Trump said he was “not quite there yet” in supporting Ryan or McCain in their respective primaries.

“I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country,” Trump told the Post. “We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I’m just not quite there yet. I’m not quite there yet.”

The interview, which prompted an angry phone call to top Trump officials from RNC chair Reince Priebus, came a day after the GOP nominee thanked Ryan’s primary opponent on Twitter for his “kind words.”

In a statement released in anticipation of Trump's announcement Friday, Nehlen praised Trump's leadership while claiming that his reluctance to endorse the House speaker "sent a clear signal to Wisconsin voters that Ryan is not his preferred candidate in this race."

“Given his stature as our party’s official nominee, Mr. Trump’s decision to support the Republican Speaker is appropriate and is a display of true leadership,” Nehlen said. “Unlike Speaker Ryan, Mr. Trump has made clear that this election is not about himself and is not about advancing his own personal agenda.”

The Trump campaign had claimed earlier this week that its policy was not to endorse in Republican primaries, even though he had previously endorsed North Carolina Rep. Renee Ellmers, who lost her seat in June after her district was redrawn. Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has also endorsed Ryan.

Ryan, meanwhile, endorsed Trump as the Republican nominee in June, but the two haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. Ryan and many other top Republican leaders pushed back as Trump feuded with the parents of a Muslim-American Army captain killed in Iraq. Ryan said the family’s sacrifice should always be honored.

Earlier on Friday, Ryan said his endorsement of Trump was not a “blank check” and that there was “of course” a point at which he could rescind his support, though he did not specify what that point might be. He added that he has not spoken to Trump since the convention and has no current plans to do so.

“I did say very clearly, privately and publicly, that if I hear things that I think distort conservatism, that disfigure our principles and our values as Republicans, I’m going to speak out and defend ourselves so that people in this country don’t get a mixed perception about who we are and what we believe in,” Ryan said in a radio interview in Milwaukee. “And I’ve had to do that from time to time, more than I certainly wanted to, like attacking Gold Star parents. So obviously, I’ve done that and I’m going to continue to do that if necessary. Where that line gets crossed, I don’t know where that is, if that is.”

Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ron Johnson did not attend Trump's Green Bay rally, citing other obligations. Nehlen, however, tweeted that he was in the crowd.