Why the “little secret” between Trump and Speaker Johnson is important

Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden was ugly and vulgar in many ways, but it also lacked subtlety. There was text, no subtext. The Republican and his allies relied on chainsaws, not scalpels.

Against this backdrop, there was one point in the former president's remarks that was unexpected.

Amid the GOP candidate's comments, Trump referenced House Speaker Mike Johnson, who also appeared at the rally in New York City. “I expect he’ll be around for a long time,” the former president said of the Louisiana congressman.

This in itself was a comment that likely raised eyebrows among members of Congress: It's not exactly a secret that Johnson's position in the House Republican Conference is precarious, and even if the GOP is able to maintain its majority in the House to claim, the conventional wisdom suggests that he would have an intraparty fight to keep the speaker's gavel.

Against this backdrop, Trump's “prediction” will likely be seen as a signal of support that could well improve Johnson's chances.

But it was what the former president said in the next breath that mattered more to me.

“We need to get the congressmen elected and we need to get the senators elected because we can take the Senate pretty easily and I think with our little secret we're going to do really well in the House, right? “Our little secret is to have a big impact,” Trump said, looking in Johnson’s direction.

The former president appeared to point at the House speaker and added: “He and I have a secret. We’ll tell you what it is when the race is over.”