House Speaker Mike Johnson prompted an enthusiastic reaction from Republicans at the party's midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday night when he floated the idea that Donald Trump could seek a seat in the House of Representatives after leaving the White House. Johnson invoked John Quincy Adams, the only former US president to later win election to Congress, before quickly appearing to walk the suggestion back, joking that Trump would be "too busy" for such a role.

Johnson made the remarks while describing the Capitol's Statuary Hall, where brass plaques mark the spots of lawmakers who went on to become president, noting Adams won a House seat in 1830 and served until his death in 1848. The comment came on the final night of the Republican National Committee's first midterm convention, held to rally support ahead of the November 3 elections; Trump used his own address to urge supporters to turn out for congressional Republicans despite his own name not being on the ballot, while Johnson framed the vote as a "contrast between common sense and crazy" as the GOP seeks to defy the historic trend of the president's party losing seats at midterms.