New York: Donald Trump’s hunt for a secretary of state is veering into dramatic terrain, with the president-elect summoning Mitt Romney back for a second look as a top aide leads a public pressure campaign against the pick. Mr Trump has a follow-up meeting on Tuesday with the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, who has become a symbol of the internal divisions agitating the transition team. He also plans to sit with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On Monday, he spent an hour with retired Gen. David Petraeus, a new contender.
Aides were divided over Mr Trump’s choices, particularly the prospect that he could tap Mr Romney for the top-tier diplomatic post. In an unusual public airing of internal machinations, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway on Sunday warned that the president-elect’s supporters would feel “betrayed” if he tapped Mr Romney as secretary of state. Meanwhile, the president-elect is also considering former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a loyal Trump supporter, for the most prized job. According to the Washington Post, Mr Giuliani has openly campaigned for the job and has told friends that he is likely to get it.
However, the Trump team thinks it may be challenging and even unlikely for him to win the Senate’s approval. Mr Giuliani’s business interests and the millions he has earned in paid speeches and consulting work for foreign entities would come under scrutiny, the Post reported. On Monday, former CIA director Petraeus spent about an hour with Mr Trump. He praised the president-elect showing a “great grasp of a variety of the challenges that are out there.”
The former CIA chief pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair. Vice president-elect Mike Pence, who is heading the transition effort, is said to be among those backing Mr Romney for secretary of state. Other top Trump allies, notably Ms Conway, have launched a highly unusual public campaign against a Romney nomination. He comments stirred speculation that she is seeking either to force Mr Trump’s hand or give him cover for ultimately passing over Mr Romney.
