In addition to Donald Trump, Paul Ryan is reaching out to all GOP candidates. His conversations with the 2016 candidates are going to be policy focused. | AP Photo Ryan's staff talked to Trump campaign Donald Trump did not appear at Ryan's presidential summit in January. Most of the other GOP candidates did.

Donald Trump's campaign reached out Monday to Speaker Paul Ryan's operation to chat.

Ryan responded by saying he will reach out to all of the candidates — including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich — to discuss the House Republican policy agenda, and how he wants it to fit into the 2016 presidential campaign.


It is, in a nutshell, how he sees his role this year. He is staying neutral, and wants to shape the brand of the Republican Party. But he does not want to give preferential treatment to Trump, the brash and controversial GOP frontrunner.

Ryan's relationship with Trump is already a bit tortured. Earlier this week, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sharply criticized Trump's apparent hesitance to disavow former KKK leader David Duke. In December, Ryan criticized Trump's plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States.

Ryan sees himself as the guardian of a Republican brand that many think is being tarnished by Trump, a New York billionaire and reality TV star who has dominated the presidential nominating contest.

Trump hasn't been entirely generous when it comes to Ryan, either. During his victory speech in Palm Springs, Florida, Tuesday night, Trump said he didn't know Ryan well, but said he would "get along great with him."

"And if I don't," Trump added, "[Ryan's] going to have to pay a big price."

For now, Ryan is going to chat with the entire Republican presidential field.

"We have heard from the [Trump campaign], but the two have not yet spoken," said Brendan Buck, Ryan's spokesman. "We expect the speaker to be in touch with all the remaining candidates soon to discuss our efforts to build a bold conservative policy agenda for 2017."

Hope Hicks, a spokesman for Trump, said she would not discuss a private conversation.

On Capitol Hill, Trump's rise has confounded most of the GOP. And his recent broadside toward Ryan elicited a round of head shaking in the House Republican Conference, where Ryan is widely revered. But if Trump ends up in the White House, he will have to work arm in arm with Ryan, who will almost certainly be the leader of the House Republican majority.

Ryan's upcoming round of conversations with Trump, Kasich, Rubio and Cruz will be policy focused. He is not endorsing in the contest, but has vowed to support the party's nominee. Ryan is leading a major agenda project aimed at giving his party an identity ahead of the election season, focusing on a five-part plank that includes trying to lift people out of poverty.

Ryan discussed his view of what the Republican Party should stand for during a presidential summit in Columbia, South Carolina, in January. Rubio and Kasich attended. Trump — and Cruz — did not attend.