--- title: Paul Ryan on Donald Trump: Not Ready to Endorse or Bet on It description: The Speaker told Politico he's not a gambling man, won't "bet" on Trump canonical: https://time.com/4344579/paul-ryan-betting-man-donald-trump/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-23T12:53:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:45:15.639Z article:section: Politics og:title: Paul Ryan on Donald Trump: Not Ready to Endorse or Bet on It og:description: The Speaker told Politico he's not a gambling man, won't "bet" on Trump og:url: https://time.com/4344579/paul-ryan-betting-man-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdef3b4fefea3735/6988945cab6d7793886a9cc8/gettyimages-532688544.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Speaker Paul Ryan Holds Press Briefing At The Capitol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Paul Ryan on Donald Trump: Not Ready to Endorse or Bet on It twitter:description: The Speaker told Politico he's not a gambling man, won't "bet" on Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdef3b4fefea3735/6988945cab6d7793886a9cc8/gettyimages-532688544.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Paul Ryan Won't Be Putting Money on a Donald Trump Win by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 23, 2016 12:53 PM UTC  House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), speaks to the media during his weekly news conference at the US Capitol, May 19, 2016 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), speaks to the media during his weekly news conference at the US Capitol, May 19, 2016 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty ImagesMark Wilson—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 23, 2016 12:53 PM UTC Speaker Paul Ryan is not a gambling man. The Republican from Wisconsin says he[ wouldn’t risk a wager on Donald Trump](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/off-message-paul-ryan-trump-could-win-223458) winning the general election in November, despite the presumptive nominee’s insistence that he can unify the GOP and the country to bring his party a win. “I’m not a betting man,” Ryan told [_Politico_‘s Off Message](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/off-message-paul-ryan-trump-could-win-223458) podcast. But he went on to say the Republican Party could yet take the White House. “I think if we get our party unified, and if we do the work we need to do to get ourselves at full strength, and if we offer the country a clear and compelling agenda that is inspiring, that is inclusive, that fixes problems, that is solutions-based and based on good principles, then, yes, I think we can win.” The statement follows Ryan’s statement that he was not “ready” to back Trump as the nominee—a sentiment that still stands, according to the [Politico i](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/off-message-paul-ryan-trump-could-win-223458)nterview, even after the[ two Republicans met in Washington](http://time.com/4327499/why-donald-trumps-meeting-with-paul-ryan-matters/). “When people go to the polls in November, they are not just picking a person … they’re also picking a path,”he said. “I very much believe in a type and style of politics that may not be in vogue today but, I still think, nevertheless, is the right kind of politics.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4344579/paul-ryan-betting-man-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4344579/paul-ryan-betting-man-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Paul Ryan Won't Be Putting Money on a Donald Trump Win","datePublished":"2016-05-23T12:53:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:45:15.639Z","description":"\"I'm not a betting man”","url":"https://time.com/4344579/paul-ryan-betting-man-donald-trump/","keywords":["Paul Ryan","republicans","GOP","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdef3b4fefea3735/6988945cab6d7793886a9cc8/gettyimages-532688544.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdef3b4fefea3735/6988945cab6d7793886a9cc8/gettyimages-532688544.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Speaker Paul Ryan Holds Press Briefing At The Capitol","caption":"Speaker Paul Ryan Holds Press Briefing At The Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—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/paul-ryan/","name":"Paul Ryan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4344579/paul-ryan-betting-man-donald-trump/","name":"Paul Ryan Won't Be Putting Money on a Donald Trump Win"}}]}] ```