Trump-Romney meeting another wild 2016 twist
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/19/politics/donald-trump-mitt-romney-secretary-of-state/index.html
Story highlights
- Trump and Romney's meeting could result in the 2012 GOP nominee getting the nod as secretary of state
- The two have numerous policy differences and spent much of the year denouncing the other
Washington (CNN)Forget a Team of Rivals. This would be a double act of denouncers.
The
thought that Mitt Romney would ever join the cabinet of Donald Trump --
given their fuming hostility, mutual contempt and venomous rhetorical
exchanges -- might be the most absurd notion yet of a crazy political
year.
But
the possibility that Trump and the man he labeled a "choke artist"
could find common cause in the new administration was nonetheless a hot
topic ahead of their meeting Saturday at the president-elect's
Bedminster, New Jersey, golf retreat.
The 2012 Republican nominee, who once warned in a CNN interview that a Trump presidency would mean "trickle down racism"
and "trickle down bigotry" instead sat down with Trump and discussed
the job of secretary of state, an appointment that would make Hillary
Clinton's decision to serve in the same post under her 2008 primary
rival Barack Obama seem routine by comparison.
After the meeting, Romney offered no hint as to whether he was offered or would accept a role in Trump's administration.
"We
had a far-reaching conversation with regard to the various theaters in
the world where there are interests of the United States of real
significance. We discussed those areas and exchanged our views on those
topics," Romney said in brief remarks to reporters. He did not take
questions.
Intrigue surrounds meeting
Prominent
members of Romney's orbit, while not confirming that the former
Massachusetts governor is interested in running US diplomacy, are not
entirely dismissing the notion that he could agree to serve.
"One
of the things that drives Gov. Romney is a sense of duty and I think
that sense of duty is what's driving him to help President-elect Trump
in any way he can as he puts together a government," Kevin Madden said
on CNN's "New Day" on Friday. "I think he recognizes that there is that
type of outreach going on with President-elect's transition team."
The Donald Trump vs. Mitt Romney fight — In one minute 01:11
On
the face of it, there are plenty of reasons why the 2012 nominee would
refuse to serve alongside Trump, not least because of their sharply
different characters and positions on some key foreign policy issues.
But there are enough reasons why it might make sense for both men to lend their meeting plenty of intrigue.
For
the President-elect, Romney would bring an immediate burst of
knowledge, global credibility, sound temperament and competence to his
nascent administration.
His
selection would also be seen as a genuine gesture to bind the wounds in
the Republican Party and the foreign policy establishment left over from
a bitter primary campaign.
It
could also open the floodgates for the kind of credible, experienced GOP
foreign policy insiders who Trump needs to staff crucial, lower-ranking
national security jobs, to join the administration.
And
since Trump's core voters are more concerned with draining the swamp of
well known Washington insiders than foreign policy, the State
Department may be one place he could put an establishment figure and not
sustain much political damage.
"Mr.
Romney would be a great choice in a sense that would be a signal sent
to moderates as well as conservatives," William Cohen, a former US
defense secretary, told CNN International's Hala Gorani on Friday.
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"Whether
that is a realistic thing remains to be seen -- I am skeptical but
nonetheless remain hopeful that such an appointment, or people like Mitt
Romney would be considered."
Some
of Romney's closest advisers initially expressed surprise at the news
that Trump and Romney would meet. But some told CNN's Gloria Borger that
the former venture capitalist prized his duty to his country above all
else. Others noted that though he is known as a businessman, Romney's
true interests centered on foreign policy, and that secretary of state
would be the only cabinet position he would accept. Another friend
however expressed extreme skepticism Romney would join the Trump
cabinet.
Romney could be relief to US allies
For
sure, a Romney appointment would come as a great relief to US allies
who are deeply anxious about the direction of Trump's foreign policy,
and who see alternative names floated as potentially in the frame as
secretary of state like Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton with much greater
apprehension.
That's because Romney
is squarely within the parameters of accepted US foreign policy
orthodoxy, is an internationalist, is well known abroad, and is
committed to the notion of free trade, US alliances and a robust US
posture in the world.
Trump on the
other hand has raised doubts about the bedrock pacts of the
international system like NATO and US alliances in Asia, is yet to
define his "America First" creed and has spooked eastern European allies
with his praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump's
temperament and a campaign in which opponents said he was unfit to
control the nuclear codes also alarmed foreign policy elites and
governments abroad -- so the thought of someone as sober and self
controlled as Romney beside Trump in the Situation Room would calm some
nerves.
The former Massachusetts
governor would sail through Senate confirmation, thanks to his
unimpeachable personal reputation as a devoted and devout family man
with no personal skeletons in the cupboard.
No
one can know what is in Romney's mind as he travels to meet Trump. But
it was not a meeting he had to take. After all, it does carry the risk
that the President-elect is simply using his good name to give the
impression that he is casting a wide and conciliatory net across his
party as he chooses his cabinet.
Career capper
But were Trump to offer him the job of secretary of state, it's not impossible Romney would accept.
It
would be on last chance to serve and cap a career that once seemed
headed for the pinnacle of national politics and at least partially make
up for the disappointment of his loss to Obama four years ago.
Given
Trump's lack of experience in foreign policy, and a leadership style
that promises to be heavily reliant on his subordinates, Romney could
see the chance of wide autonomy in setting US foreign policy as
attractive.
It might also be a good
fit with the Mr. Fix-it brand of the former venture capitalist who
rescued the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Still, there's a reason why a Romney nomination as secretary of state would be seen as yet another shocking development in 2016.
Trump
eviscerated Romney on the campaign trail. He said he was a "disaster as
a candidate" who "choked like a dog" and said he had a lot of friends
-- but Romney wasn't one of them.
But
maybe Trump appreciates someone who can throw a punch. After all,
Romney warned Trump was a "phony" a "fraud" who was playing the American
public for "suckers" and once said he wanted to be able to look his
grandchildren in the eye and say he took a stand against the GOP
nominee.
Would Romney be allowed to speak for the President?
Even
if the two men put personal animosity aside, the starchy Romney would
be an incongruous figure in a team that includes firebrands like new
White House adviser Stephen Bannon and the next national security
adviser Michael Flynn.
And even if
Trump gave him broad latitude to dictate US foreign policy, Romney would
be taking a risk that the 45th President's intemperate public comments
and volatile personality would undo painstaking diplomatic work.
There
is nothing more debilitating for a secretary of state than the view
around the world that he or she does not speak for the President or is
on a different page.
Similarly,
Romney might also face having his own words turned against him in talks
with a foreign power since he said earlier this year that the
President-elect's promises were "as worthless as a degree from Trump
University."
Romney
and Trump would begin any partnership estranged in some key areas of
policy. The former Massachusetts governor is a committed free trader for
example. He warned in 2012 that Russia represented the top geopolitical
threat to the United States. Trump has meanwhile warmly praised the
leadership of Putin and promised to ease rocky relations with the
Kremlin.
Still Trump and Romney
do agree on the need to battle Islamic extremism, the magnitude of the
threat from terrorism and the need to hike military spending.
Lanhee
Chen, a top aide to Romney in 2012, argued that though there were
differences on trade, the gaps were perhaps not as wide as they might
seem.
"I do think there is some
similarity in a focus on American interests that both Governor Romney
and I think Donald Trump expressed on the campaign trail," said Chen, a
CNN contributor.
"If you look at
the atmospherics, the macro level, there may actually be more there than
meets the eye in terms of commonality between things that Donald Trump
has expressed and Governor Romney has expressed."
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