Trump may discuss secretary of state job
with critic Romney: source
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[November 18, 2016]
By Steve Holland
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump planned a Saturday meeting with Mitt Romney, the 2012
Republican presidential nominee and fierce Trump critic, and may discuss
whether he should be a candidate for secretary of state, a source
familiar with the meeting said on Thursday.
Trump already has a lengthy list of potential candidates for the post of
top U.S. diplomat, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, U.S. Senator Bob
Corker of Tennessee, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who met
Trump on Thursday.
Trump, a former reality TV star, has shown a flair for the dramatic in
his deliberations over his Cabinet, saying only he knows who "the
finalists" are.
Corker told CNN on Wednesday he was "in the mix" for the position but
that Trump might pick someone who was closer to him during the
presidential campaign. He met on Thursday in Washington with Vice
President-elect Mike Pence.
Trump's expected meeting with Romney amounts to an olive branch of sorts
to one of his sharpest critics. Romney, who in a speech in March called
Trump "a phony, a fraud," urged Republicans to vote for anyone but the
New York real estate magnate while the party was picking its
presidential nominee.
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Trump, in turn, used harsh rhetoric at times during his campaign to
dismiss Romney as a failure who blew a chance in 2012 to defeat
Democratic President Barack Obama, whom Trump felt was a weak opponent.
The source told Reuters that a broad discussion was expected during the
meeting and that discussion about the secretary of state position was
possible. The source had said earlier his understanding was that the
meeting would occur on Sunday.
Asked about the meeting, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway suggested
it was still being arranged. "We're working on it," she said.
'TRUMP WILL MAKE DECISION'
"I think it's good that the president-elect is meeting with people like
Mr. Romney," U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, one of Trump's
closest confidants and a potential nominee for defense secretary, told
reporters at Manhattan's Trump Tower.
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Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, is being
considered for secretary of state, NBC News reported on Thursday,
citing unnamed sources. The former Massachusetts governor is due to
meet Trump on Sunday to discuss the position, NBC News said.
REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo
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Sessions sounded far from certain Romney would be offered a job.
”There are a lot of talented people that he (Trump) needs good
relationships with. And I think Mr. Romney would be quite capable of
doing a number of things. But he will be one of those, I am sure,
that's reviewed. Donald Trump will make that decision," Sessions
said.
When Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, opted out of running
for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, people close to him
suggested that serving as secretary of state might be appealing to
him if a Republican won the presidency.
A steady stream of potential Trump administration hires made their
way through the lobby of Trump Tower to meet with either Trump or
officials close to him.
All indicated a willingness to serve, such as Jeb Hensarling, a
Texas Republican who is chairman of the U.S. House of
Representatives Financial Services Committee. He is a potential
treasury secretary in the Trump administration.
"I stand ready to help the president in any capacity possible. I’ve
got a great position in public policy today, if he wants to talk to
me obviously, about serving somewhere else, we’ll look at serving
somewhere else," he told reporters.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney)
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