When House Republicans ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this week, Donald Trump began toying with the idea of heading to Washington, D.C., in a high-profile visit, briefly standing as a candidate for the post before dramatically delivering his support and his votes to an ally, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan.

Trump outlined the spotlight-grabbing plan in calls to Republicans on Wednesday night, four sources familiar with the discussions tell The Messenger, which first reported Trump’s initial interest in visiting the paralyzed U.S. House.

But Trump had one ask: “Keep this quiet.”

Texas Congressman Troy Nehls either didn’t heed or didn’t hear that Trump request, blabbing about the once-private call on the social media platform X at 9:32 p.m.

[That sounds like a foolish plan in the first place. According to this telling, Trump wanted to do this as a way to promote his presidential campaign, which seems like a poor substitute for debates and voter engagement. It would have been a huge gimmick and nothing more, but it might have made Jim Jordan look more like Trump’s puppet than Speaker in his own right. And that’s an impression that Trump would have undoubtedly promoted, too. — Ed]