Story highlights House Speaker Paul Ryan clashed with Donald Trump throughout the 2016 campaign

The speaker's close friendship with Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be critical

(CNN) House Speaker Paul Ryan is positioned to be perhaps the most important ally for President-elect Donald Trump to get some of his top priorities done.

The two sat down Friday in New York for what the Wisconsin Republican called a "very exciting meeting" about moving major pieces of the GOP agenda next year.

"We are very excited about getting to work and hitting the ground running in 2017 to put this country back on track," Ryan said in the lobby of Trump Tower.

Ryan clashed with Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, denouncing several controversial positions espoused by the billionaire-turned-politician, but Ryan said in a "60 Minutes" interview recently that the two smoothed things over after the election.

"We basically decided to let bygones be bygones. And let's move forward and fix this country's problems. And it was over and done with. And ever since then, we've had nothing but extremely productive conversations," Ryan said.

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