Find coverage of Friday’s visit in the Nation & World Extra section, a subscriber-only feature in your eNewspaper.

Some Republicans think it would be best for Trump to intervene immediately and tell Greene to drop her bid. They have concerns that another leadership crisis would not only endanger their chances of retaining control of the House but reflect poorly on Trump’s reelection campaign.

“I don’t think it would be helpful to go through another motion to vacate whatsoever,” another House Republican said on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the former president.

Greene met with Johnson for more than an hour in his office Wednesday. Leaving the meeting, when asked if she had spoken with the former president and if he supported her efforts, she declined to answer and said she doesn’t “talk about the conversations I have with the president.”

While Trump could simply stay out of the House speaker fight, there’s also worry among Republicans that his silence could be misinterpreted by conservatives.

If Trump stays quiet, a senior House GOP aide said on the condition of anonymity, it would be “worse” for the speaker and could put Johnson in an even tighter spot as his conservative antagonists might not see an issue with ousting him.

Not only was the Mar-a-Lago event on Friday expected to be crucial to Johnson’s speakership, the hope is to also rally House Republicans together to portray unity after months of intraparty bickering and infighting.

But that unity isn’t a given for some hard-liners. Asked whether there needs to be a united front in the GOP, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, said “Of course there needs to be a united front, and we all agree on that. The question is: united on what?”

Contributing: Zac Anderson, USA TODAY