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Mitt Romney Still in the Running for Secretary of State, Trump Says Trump Says Mitt Romney Still in Running for Secretary of State
(35 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, was still in the running to become his secretary of state despite their bitter differences during the campaign, as he narrowed his choices and planned an announcement next week for the crucial post.WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, was still in the running to become his secretary of state despite their bitter differences during the campaign, as he narrowed his choices and planned an announcement next week for the crucial post.
“We’ve come a long way together, we had some tremendous difficulty together and now I think we’ve come a long way,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Romney in a telephone interview on NBC’s “Today” show, where it was announced that Time Magazine had named the president-elect its “Person of the Year.” “We had some tremendous difficulty together and now I think we’ve come a long way,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Romney in a telephone interview on NBC’s “Today” show, where it was announced that Time Magazine had named the president-elect its “Person of the Year.”
Mr. Trump said the drawn-out selection process and highly publicized flirtation with Mr. Romney was not designed to torment a campaign nemesis but rather to find the right person to serve as the nation’s chief diplomat.Mr. Trump said the drawn-out selection process and highly publicized flirtation with Mr. Romney was not designed to torment a campaign nemesis but rather to find the right person to serve as the nation’s chief diplomat.
“It’s not about revenge, it’s about what’s good for the country, and I’m able to put this stuff behind us,” Mr. Trump said.“It’s not about revenge, it’s about what’s good for the country, and I’m able to put this stuff behind us,” Mr. Trump said.
Rex W. Tillerson, the president and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, is also a candidate for the post, Mr. Trump said, calling him a “great, great gentleman” who has “built a tremendous company over a period of years with great style.” He said he had ruled out “in my own mind” other prominent candidates who have been considered for the post — a group that includes Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor; Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former C.I.A. director; Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee; and John Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations — but he declined to say which ones. Nearly a month after his stunning election upset ended a bitterly divisive presidential race, Mr. Trump flatly refused any responsibility for the rifts, saying, “I’m not president yet, so I didn’t do anything to divide.”
Mr. Trump said he would have more “big announcements” on personnel on Wednesday and Thursday as he fills the ranks of his administration ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration. But in the interview with Time, Mr. Trump repeated some of the harsh rhetoric that marked his unorthodox campaign, and declined to criticize or contradict President Rodrigo R. Duterte of the Philippines, who has called President Obama the “son of a whore” and waged a brutal campaign of extrajudicial killings.
Told that his promises to crack down on undocumented immigrants who kill and rape Americans echo Mr. Duterte’s rhetoric about annihilating drug dealers and users, Mr. Trump did not dispute the comparison.
“Well, hey, look, this is bad stuff,” he told Time. “They slice them up, they carve their initials in the girl’s forehead, O.K? What are we supposed to do? Be nice about it?”
He also rejected the conclusion of United States intelligence officials who had said Russia was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign emails released on WikiLeaks, saying he thought that conclusion was driven by politics.
“I don’t believe it. I don’t believe they interfered,” Trump said of the Russians.
The interview came as Mr. Trump continued to fill out the ranks of his administration with loyalists who will play pivotal roles. He told donors at a private fund-raiser at Cipriani retaurant in Manhattan that Terry Branstad, the former Iowa governor who was an early supporter of his campaign, would be the United States ambassador to China, a crucial post managing a complex relationship that Mr. Trump has indicated he is willing to shake up even further.
Mr. Trump also said he would have more “big announcements” on personnel on Wednesday and Thursday.
Another contender for secretary of state, he said on “Today,” is Rex W. Tillerson, the president and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, whom he called a “great, great gentleman” who has “built a tremendous company over a period of years with great style.” He said he had ruled out “in my own mind” other prominent candidates who have been considered for the post — a group that includes Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor; Gen. David Petraeus, the former C.I.A. director; Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee; and John Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations — but he declined to say which ones.
One day after picking a fight on Twitter with Boeing over the cost of developing the next generation of the Air Force One jumbo jet for presidential travel, Mr. Trump said he had spoken to officials at the company and would insist on a lower-cost aircraft or cancel the contract.One day after picking a fight on Twitter with Boeing over the cost of developing the next generation of the Air Force One jumbo jet for presidential travel, Mr. Trump said he had spoken to officials at the company and would insist on a lower-cost aircraft or cancel the contract.
“We’re going to work it out, but you know that’s what I’m here for,” Mr. Trump said. “I’m going to negotiate prices, and the planes are too expensive, and we’re going to get the prices down, and if we don’t get the prices down, we’re not going to order them.”“We’re going to work it out, but you know that’s what I’m here for,” Mr. Trump said. “I’m going to negotiate prices, and the planes are too expensive, and we’re going to get the prices down, and if we don’t get the prices down, we’re not going to order them.”
He also explained his apparent decision in June, divulged by a member of his transition team on Tuesday, to sell all of his stock holdings, a move he said he made to avoid “tremendous” potential conflicts of interest in the event he won the election.He also explained his apparent decision in June, divulged by a member of his transition team on Tuesday, to sell all of his stock holdings, a move he said he made to avoid “tremendous” potential conflicts of interest in the event he won the election.
“I don’t think its appropriate for me to be owning stocks when I’m making deals for this country that maybe will affect one company positively and one company negatively,” Mr. Trump said.“I don’t think its appropriate for me to be owning stocks when I’m making deals for this country that maybe will affect one company positively and one company negatively,” Mr. Trump said.
Nearly a month after winning a divisive presidential election, Mr. Trump said he hoped to bring the country together, but he flatly refused to take responsibility for the deep rifts exposed by the race.
Time magazine’s article branded him the president of the “divided states of America,” a characterization Mr. Trump denounced as “snarky.”Time magazine’s article branded him the president of the “divided states of America,” a characterization Mr. Trump denounced as “snarky.”
When you say divided states of America, I didn’t divide them,” Mr. Trump said. “They’re divided now, there’s a lot of division, and we’re going to put it back together, and we’re going to have a country that’s very well healed.” “When you say divided states of America, I didn’t divide them,” Mr. Trump told NBC. “They’re divided now, there’s a lot of division, and we’re going to put it back together, and we’re going to have a country that’s very well healed.”
“I’m not president yet,” Mr. Trump said a few moments later, “so I didn’t do anything to divide.” In the interview with Time, he suggested he was willing to moderate some of his hard-line campaign stances and adjust others to appeal to a broader swath of Americans.
He said he had developed a tight rapport with President Obama, with whom he has had a “very good dialogue” about policy ideas and personnel choices. Mr. Trump, whose campaign was fueled largely by promises to build a wall on the country’s southern border and deport those who came in illegally, said he would like to find an accommodation for the undocumented young people — often referred to as dreamers — who were brought to the United States as children. After Mr. Obama took executive action to create a program granting them legal status, many of those who came forward to register now worry that they could be easily found and deported.
“We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud,” Mr. Trump told Time. “They got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they’re in never-never land because they don’t know what’s going to happen.”
On economic policy, Mr. Trump suggested that a major new infrastructure and tax package could serve as stimulus “you have to prime the pump” to create jobs and accelerate growth, he said told Time — just as Mr. Obama’s $787 billion economic recovery package was intended to do when he took office in 2009.
Mr. Trump told NBC that he had developed a tight rapport with Mr. Obama, with whom he has had a “very good dialogue” about policy ideas and personnel choices.
“I take his recommendations very seriously,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Obama.“I take his recommendations very seriously,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Obama.