FLORIDA

President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he planned to attend former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral in Washington next week, ending speculation about his presence at the memorial for a predecessor whom he had often criticized.

In wide-ranging remarks to reporters as he entered a flashy New Year’s Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago, his private Florida estate and club, Trump also predicted that House Speaker Mike Johnson would retain his post and reiterated his support for visas for high-skilled immigrants, doubling down in a fight that has divided his supporters.

Trump declined to say whether he had spoken to the family of Carter, who died Sunday at age 100. Although attendance at the funeral of a predecessor would be virtually automatic for any other president-elect, Trump has sometimes skipped memorials for other political titans. And it could put Trump near his living predecessors, three of whom — Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and President Joe Biden — have been deeply critical of him.

With what could be a chaotic House leadership election approaching Friday, Trump amplified his support for Johnson, saying he is “the one that can win right now” in a narrowly divided chamber where Republicans have few votes to spare.

The president-elect endorsed Johnson on Monday, two weeks after undermining a bipartisan spending deal that the speaker had negotiated with House Democrats, imperiling his standing with his Republican colleagues. Trump had debated letting Johnson sink but ultimately decided he was the best option to get the 218 votes needed.

Johnson still faces a tough road, with at least one House Republican publicly saying he will not vote for him.

Trump evaded a question about whether he had new thoughts about handling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instead pivoting to Biden’s handling of immigration and crime in cities.

Asked whether he planned to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump seemed confused about the question and appeared to refer to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with whom he met recently in France.

— The New York Times