How Ryan decided to ditch Trump

The speaker did not expect Trump to clinch the nomination so soon and huddled quickly with advisers to plot his break.

By Jake Sherman, Politico.com

On Wednesday morning, not even 24 hours after Donald Trump effectively clinched the Republican nomination, Paul Ryan convened his top advisers for a call. With Congress out of session, Ryan was bouncing between multiple states, raising the piles of money needed to keep House Republicans in the majority.

But Donald Trump was on his mind. The speaker could not — at least at this point — support him. And he wanted to talk through how to proceed.

Ryan never expected Trump to lock up the nomination so quickly. He didn't think Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would drop out of the race in May. In fact, Ryan's orbit was preparing for a contested convention in Cleveland, where he is slated to serve as chairman, effectively the emcee of the Trump coronation.

The decision was made quickly. The next day he would go on CNN and make it official, in no uncertain terms.

(More here.)