Donald Trump, the successful president and 2024 frontrunner, defeated his Democratic rival Nancy Pelosi on Thursday in the contested race for speaker of the House.
After eight unsuccessful attempts to elect a leader in the lower chamber, Trump had received two total votes while Pelosi had received none. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) voted for "Donald John Trump" on the seventh and eighth ballots, whereas every single Democrat has voted for someone other than Pelosi.
The speaker of the House need not be a sitting member of Congress, though Trump has already endorsed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) for the position and has shown no interest in doing a job for which he is demonstrably overqualified.