Ryan, Trump hail ‘positive step’ towards unity, defeating Clinton

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives Paul Ryan and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump have described their meeting as a "positive step" toward unifying the Republican Party to defeat likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In a joint statement shortly after their highly-anticipated meeting in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Trump and Ryan called for Republicans to "unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda and do all we can to win” the presidential election in November.

Despite differences of opinion about Trump in the party, Republicans are calling for unity to defeat Clinton.

Ryan and Trump echoed that view in their statement, saying “the US cannot afford another four years of the [President Barack] Obama White House, which is what Hillary Clinton represents.”

"With that focus, we had a great conversation this morning. While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground. We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal," Trump and Ryan said.

“This was our first meeting, but it was a very positive step toward unification,” the statement continued.

Trump supporters and protesters gathered outside the Republican National Convention headquarters in Washington while the meeting was being held.

Ryan is the nation’s top Republican elected official who has yet to offer his support for Trump’s nomination, saying the billionaire businessman lacked conservative principles.

“At this point I’m not ready to jump in, but I hope we can get there,” he told CNN earlier this month.

Ryan said he wants Trump to unify "all wings of the Republican Party and the conservative movement" and then launch an election campaign so that  Americans will "have something that they're proud to support and proud to be a part of."

After Trump's commanding victory in Indiana's primary last week, his remaining challengers, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, both suspended their presidential bids, leaving the billionaire businessman on an uncontested path to the nomination.

According to an AP count, Trump has so far won 1,134 of the 1,237 delegates he needs to claim the GOP nomination.

Trump was set to meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell next, who said last week that he is committed to supporting Trump's presidential bid and called on fellow Republicans to do the same.

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