Former GOP House leader Boehner says it’s Trump’s party now

US president’s longtime golf partner says ‘Republican Party is kind of taking a nap somewhere’

By AP 1 June 2018, 3:03 pm

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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol in Washington on March 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker John Boehner says there is no Republican Party anymore — but there is the party of US President Donald Trump.

Boehner was asked about the GOP Thursday at a policy conference in Michigan. He replied: “There is no Republican Party. There’s a Trump Party.”

He added, “The Republican Party is kind of taking a nap somewhere.”

The former speaker is friendly with the president — the two have played a lot of golf together — and counted Trump as a supporter. But Boehner says he didn’t expect Trump to become president.

US President Donald Trump arrives outside the White House on the South Lawn before he delivers remarks and participates in the White House Sports and Fitness Day on May 30, 2018 in Washington,DC. (AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm)

The Ohio Republican comes from the establishment wing of the GOP. He abruptly retired from the House in 2015 amid resistance from a conservative flank of House Republicans who challenged his leadership as speaker.