By Steve Holland | BEDMINSTER, N.J.
President-elect Donald
Trump and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney set aside a fierce
rivalry on Saturday and held talks likely to feed speculation that Romney could
be in line to be the next U.S. secretary of state.
Trump also met
for an hour with retired Marine General James Mattis, who is considered a
strong contender for defense secretary or another high-ranking job.
After a day of
meetings, Trump emerged to tell reporters that his search process was going “really
efficiently” and that he had spoken to “really, really talented” people who
could form part of his Cabinet. Asked if Mattis would be his defense secretary,
Trump said, “He’s a great guy. He is some great man.”
Trump said he
might have some announcements on Sunday.
Earlier, Trump
and Romney emerged from their meeting after an hour and 20 minutes, and Trump
told reporters their talks “went great.” Romney said the pair “had a
far-reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world.”
“We discussed
those areas, and exchanged our views on those topics – a very thorough and
in-depth discussion in the time we had, ”Romney said.” And I Appreciate the
chance to speak with the president-elect and I look forward to the coming
administration and the things that it’s going to be doing.”
Romney, who was a
leader of the establishmentRepublican “never Trump” movement that tried to
block Trump from becoming the nominee, was first in a long list of people Trump
was meeting with on Saturday and Sunday as he seeks to fill out his Cabinet and
gather advice ahead of his Jan. 20 move to the White House.
In March, Romney
said Trump would be dangerous as president, with policies that could touch off
a recession. Romney also said, “I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy
he is very, very not smart.”
Trump had
denounced Romney as a “choke artist” for losing the 2012 election to President
Barack Obama.
But with the New
York real estate developer now president-in-waiting, Romney’s appearance at
Trump National Bedminster on an unseasonably warm November day was symbolic of
hard-won party unity.
‘SEAL OF APPROVAL’
Whether Romney will
join the Trump administration is unclear. Romney, a more mainstream Republican,
would serve alongside more hawkish Trump appointees named on Friday: Senator
Jeff Sessions of Alabama as attorney general, retired Lieutenant General
Michael Flynn as national security adviser and Representative Mike Pompeo as
CIA director.
Those nominations
suggest Trump is setting up his administration to take a hard line confronting
Islamist militancy and curbing illegal immigration.
Transition
officials said Trump’s meeting with Romney was supposed to be a general
discussion about the incoming administration.
A Romney confidant
said of Romney’s secretary of state prospects: “Could it happen? I suppose. But
it’s unlikely.”
Instead, the
source said the meeting gives “the good house keeping seal of approval to
Republicans who don’t know if they should help[ Trump or not.”
Trump has been
considering former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a close adviser, for secretary
of state, as well as former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton
and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. Trump is to meet Giuliani on Sunday.
Also on Saturday,
Trump met with Andy Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, the fast-food
giant that operates the Carl’s Jr. And Hardee’s chains. Afterwards, Trump said
he was “getting very close” to making some Cabinet decisions.
Puzder, a
possible labor secretary, said he would be “proud to serve in any position that
this president asks me to serve in.”
In addition, he
met with two candidates for education secreatary: Michelle Rhee, the former
Washington, D.C., public schools chancellor, and Betsy DeVos, a former head of
the Michigan Republican Party.
On Sunday, Trump
is to sit down with Wilbur Ross, a potential commerce secretary who made
billions by investing in bankrupt companies and distressed assets, and business
executive David McCormick, head of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, as
well as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was recently demoted in his
role on Trump’s transition team.
(Reporting
Reuters by Steve Holland; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler)
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