Quote:Paul Ryan, after weeks of declining to endorse Donald Trump, has finally offered his formal support for the presumptive Republican nominee.

Ryan, the highest-ranking Republican in the nation, took the unprecedented step last month of refusing to back the candidate after the businessman all but secured the party’s presidential nomination. At the time, Ryan cited Trump’s divisive rhetoric and policy differences, but the House speaker reversed course on Thursday with an endorsement of Trump.

Ryan declared his support in an op-ed in the Janesville Gazette, a local newspaper in his hometown in Wisconsin, writing that he planned to vote for Trump in November.

“It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind,” Ryan wrote. “But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement.”

Quote:“As I said from the start, my goal has been to unite the party so we can win in the fall. And if we’re going to unite, it has to be over ideas,” wrote Ryan, who in 2012 was the Republican vice-presidential nominee.