--- title: Paul Ryan Says He Would Step Down As Convention Chair If Trump Wants description: Paul Ryan has said that he will step down as convention chair if Donald Trump asks him to. canonical: https://time.com/4323088/donald-trump-paul-ryan-convention-chair/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-09T17:26:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:10.939Z article:section: Politics og:title: Paul Ryan Says He Would Step Down As Convention Chair If Trump Wants og:description: Paul Ryan has said that he will step down as convention chair if Donald Trump asks him to. og:url: https://time.com/4323088/donald-trump-paul-ryan-convention-chair/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b8fccb097a1ce4b/69888ed5a988ca26236b7612/yan.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: House Speaker Paul Ryan Gives Speech On The State Of American Politics og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Paul Ryan Says He Would Step Down As Convention Chair If Trump Wants twitter:description: Paul Ryan has said that he will step down as convention chair if Donald Trump asks him to. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b8fccb097a1ce4b/69888ed5a988ca26236b7612/yan.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Paul Ryan Says He Would Step Down As Convention Chair If Trump Wants > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dfb5fca3-8d4f-49f8-b020-fb52afb35101&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 9, 2016 5:26 PM UTC  U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) departs after delivering remarks on Capitol Hill March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) departs after delivering remarks on Capitol Hill March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 9, 2016 5:26 PM UTC House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said he’s [“not there yet”](http://time.com/4320476/paul-ryan-interview-transcript-donald-trump-endorsement/) on endorsing Donald Trump earlier this month, said he’s willing to step down as chair of the Republican national convention if the presumptive nominee asks. In an interview with the [the Milwaukee _Journal Sentinel_](http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/ryan-says-he-would-step-down-as-convention-chair-if-trump-asks-b99721843z1-378661491.html) Monday, the Wisconsin Republican said that the convention is Trump’s show, basically. “He’s the nominee. I’ll do whatever he wants with respect to the convention,” he said. Ryan may just be trying to strengthen his hand [going into a meeting](http://time.com/4321574/paul-ryan-donald-trump-republican-meeting/?iid=sr-link3) with Trump this week. He’s previously said he hopes to support the Republican nominee but wants to ensure that Trump is a “standard bearer” on conservative principles. On Monday, Ryan also lowered expectations for the meeting. “I just want to get to know the guy … we just don’t know each other,” he told the _Journal Sentinel._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4323088/donald-trump-paul-ryan-convention-chair/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4323088/donald-trump-paul-ryan-convention-chair/"},"headline":"Paul Ryan Says He Would Step Down As Convention Chair If Trump Wants","datePublished":"2016-05-09T17:26:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:10.939Z","description":"Paul Ryan has said that he will step down as convention chair if Donald Trump asks him to.","url":"https://time.com/4323088/donald-trump-paul-ryan-convention-chair/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Paul Ryan","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b8fccb097a1ce4b/69888ed5a988ca26236b7612/yan.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b8fccb097a1ce4b/69888ed5a988ca26236b7612/yan.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House Speaker Paul Ryan Gives Speech On The State Of American Politics","caption":"House Speaker Paul Ryan Gives Speech On The State Of American Politics","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4323088/donald-trump-paul-ryan-convention-chair/","name":"Paul Ryan Says He Would Step Down As Convention Chair If Trump Wants"}}]}] ```