I was asked today why I haven't written about the possibility of Mitt Romney joining the Trump Administration. The simple answer is that I don't really view it as likely. President Elect Trump and Mitt Romney are scheduled to meet in New Jersey tomorrow. The rumor mill says that the President Elect is considering Romney for Secretary of State. So what. Yesterday, we heard about how SC governor Nikki Haley was being considered for Secretary of State. Before that, we were told that Rudy Giuliani had a lock on that job. And let's not forget how ambassador John Bolton was the likely Secretary of State. The actual reality is just that we can safely rule out John Kerry staying on in the position or Trump bringing back Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton.
Still, one should consider if it would make sense for the President Elect to put Romney in the position or in any position in his cabinet. In order to analyze that, however, one has to remember what Romney had to say about candidate Trump during the campaign. It is not just that Romney opposed Trump in the primary election; many Republicans did that. No, Romney was one who refused to support candidate Trump after he obtained the nomination. In my view, that is a major problem particularly for someone leading the State Department. Would Romney actually take his lead from Trump or would Romney decide to branch out on his own. In such an important position, it would greatly undermine a Trump foreign policy if the head of the State Department were to be going rogue. On the other hand, Romney is a man of great talent, particularly when it comes to running big organizations. Perhaps he could become head of the Veterans Administration. Goodness knows, the VA needs a major overhaul. Romney might also be a great trade negotiator except for the fact that he disagrees strongly with Trump on the idea of fair trade. The reality is the places where Romney might make sense in the cabinet are probably positions that Romney would not accept.
There's been a lot of talk of Trump scoring political points by adding Romney to his cabinet. I doubt that there are many in Trump's coalition who are longing to see Mitt at cabinet meetings. The political gain would be almost exclusively with people who don't like Trump at all. In other words, this argument may sound good to the mainstream media, but it's just another story line in the endless attack on the President Elect. There's no reason for him to cooperate.
Still, one should consider if it would make sense for the President Elect to put Romney in the position or in any position in his cabinet. In order to analyze that, however, one has to remember what Romney had to say about candidate Trump during the campaign. It is not just that Romney opposed Trump in the primary election; many Republicans did that. No, Romney was one who refused to support candidate Trump after he obtained the nomination. In my view, that is a major problem particularly for someone leading the State Department. Would Romney actually take his lead from Trump or would Romney decide to branch out on his own. In such an important position, it would greatly undermine a Trump foreign policy if the head of the State Department were to be going rogue. On the other hand, Romney is a man of great talent, particularly when it comes to running big organizations. Perhaps he could become head of the Veterans Administration. Goodness knows, the VA needs a major overhaul. Romney might also be a great trade negotiator except for the fact that he disagrees strongly with Trump on the idea of fair trade. The reality is the places where Romney might make sense in the cabinet are probably positions that Romney would not accept.
There's been a lot of talk of Trump scoring political points by adding Romney to his cabinet. I doubt that there are many in Trump's coalition who are longing to see Mitt at cabinet meetings. The political gain would be almost exclusively with people who don't like Trump at all. In other words, this argument may sound good to the mainstream media, but it's just another story line in the endless attack on the President Elect. There's no reason for him to cooperate.
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