Mike Johnson pushes back against appeasement criticism, 'I'm that guy' who says no

WASHINGTON, DC: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson dismissed criticism that he works to appease President Donald Trump, saying that he is the guy who says no behind closed doors.

House Speaker Johnson faces frequent criticism that he works to please President Trump because he often aligns House legislative actions with White House priorities and shifts policy positions to match presidential directives.

Dasha Burns presses Mike Johnson on whether he tells Trump no

In a clip from 'The Conversation with Dasha Burns' podcast, Burns began, “You know the criticism of you, that people think that you’ve ceded basically all congressional authority to President Trump.”

“But, like, do you ever tell him no?” Burns asked. “Because [Sen John] Thune has had to do that publicly a lot more.”

“I do it privately, that’s the whole point,” Johnson scoffed, adding, “I roll my eyes at these ridiculous headlines.” He added that Trump regularly steamrolls him.

Burns continued, “Can you tell me, like, when’s the time you’ve told him no, or you’ve walked him off the ledge or something? I know these are private conversations, but is there an example?”

Mike Johnson says he pushes back behind closed doors

“Sometimes I talk to the president four times a day,” Johnson said. “He’s an ideas guy, as you know. He’s constantly pitching, discussing, taking ideas, processing them, coming up with ideas of his own.”

“You ever say, ‘Mr President, that’s a crazy idea. Don’t do that?'” Burns asked.

“Yes!” Johnson exclaimed, “We have a very close relationship, and I talk him out of it, but I don’t make — that’s the, look — every president, every commander in chief needs people around him who will say what he needs here, not just what he wants to hear. And I’m that guy. And so we — there’s many times when we disagree.”

“You’re that guy?” asked Burns.

“Yes! But we’re in the same party. The voters delivered to us again unified government,” Johnson said.

“They expect us to work as a well-oiled machine because we have so much to fix. I don’t air grievances with the president in public; I do it behind closed doors. I think that’s the most efficient and effective way to do it. One day I could write a five-volume set about the things we’ve disagreed on,” he added.