Mitt Romney says he had a “far-reaching conversation” with President-elect Donald Trump Saturday.
The 2012 GOP presidential nominee met privately with Trump for about an hour Saturday at Trump’s private golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. Romney told reporters afterward that the two had a “very thorough and in-depth discussion” and said he appreciated “the chance to speak with” Trump.
The meeting was an about-face for both Trump and Romney. The former Massachusetts governor was a fierce critic of Trump’s GOP candidacy, but he is now being floated as a potential pick for secretary of state in the new administration.
Romney told CNN in June that a Trump presidency could bring “trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny” to the nation. Trump said Romney “choked like a dog” in 2012 in his failed bid to unseat President Barack Obama.
Trump walked Romney out at the end of the meeting and said “it went great.”
Romney did not respond to questions about whether he would consider joining the administration.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was scheduled to meet with Trump on Sunday.
Spokeswoman Desiree Taliaferro said Kobach was on his way to New Jersey, but could not confirm details of the planned meeting.
Kobach served as an adviser to the Trump campaign on immigration issues and has a background in designing laws cracking down people who are here illegally.
Trump and Pence were also planning to meet this weekend with Robert Woodson, who told The Washington Post that he is under consideration to be secretary of housing and urban development. Visitors will also include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was ousted as chair of Trump’s transition team; Michelle Rhee, the controversial former D.C. schools chancellor; and Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire oncologist who advised Vice President Biden’s efforts to combat cancer.
“These meetings that the president-elect and vice president-elect are having really show the root and the depth to which we’re going to pull in diverse ideas and different perspectives as we form this administration,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller told the Washington Post.
Some visitors, he said, are “potential administration hires” while others are coming only to offer advice.
“The president-elect is bringing together folks who have been on the opposite side of him politically,” Miller said.
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