I believe a rapprochement with Trump is likely to fail for several reasons. The first is because Trump is far too erratic, too unprincipled, and too indifferent to philosophy to stay tied to the conservative dock, assuming Ryan can move him to that point to begin with. Trump is all over the map all the time.
Mr. Trump may say on Thursday that he’s open and even favorable to, say, reforming Medicare — but no one, and I mean no one, would be shocked if on the following Tuesday he suddenly reversed course and said he opposes it. This is a man, after all, who lives in his own world, makes up his own facts, denies his own previous words, and is an inveterate liar. So even if one could secure a commitment from him, what good is it?
Beyond that, there are collateral costs to embracing Trump, for reasons I’ve laid out many times before. I consider him to be a malicious and malignant figure on the American political landscape — cruel, crude, vindictive, obsessive, narcissistic, a nativist and xenophobe, a man who seems to relish demeaning and dehumanizing others. Mr. Trump has made it as clear as he can that he’s not going to change his approach. “You win the pennant and now you’re in the World Series — you gonna change?” Mr. Trump recently said. “People like the way I’m doing.”
Peter Wehner: Why the Ryan/Trump Thaw Will Fail – Commentary
