I’m not sure this meeting means much, except symbolically. As wrong as I’ve been about Trump, I shouldn’t make predictions. But I don’t see Trump offering Mitt a real job. It’s easier to imagine him summoning Mitt, toying with him, then offering no job (or a menial job).
It is unlikely that any Republican who strongly criticized Trump would be offered a high profile cabinet job. Romney’s and Trump’s foreign policy views, particularly concerning Europe and Russia, are pretty far apart and I don’t see Romney accepting them or defending them (or explaining away his earlier criticisms) in a confirmation hearing. Trump wants people who are either completely loyal or completely dependent on him. Romney is neither.
He worked with Christie, who previously opposed him.
Then, after the election, he unceremoniously dropped Christie, to everyone’s surprise and chagrin, even though Christie had been thought to be the Attorney General pick.
Why did he drop Christie? Because some years ago, Christie prosecuted Jared Kushner’s dad and sent him to prison for two years.
That’s from the Washington Post, quoting multiple members of Trump’s team.
That’s just what’s in the Post. But let’s read between the lines. Trump knew this fact about Christie and Kushner’s dad all along. Why would he work with Christie in the first place?
That’d be because it was the plan all along. This was literally an evil movie villain scheme to prop up somebody Trump hated only in order to humiliate them later on, to “make up” for a past slight.
Yeah, Trump works with his enemies… or, works on them.
…I don’t get the title of this OP. Still, even if it’s unlikely to happen, Romney would be a far better choice than the other names that have been floated for Secretary of State.
If there is one that seems clear and consistent about Trump is that he didn’t seem to have a specific long term plan. Stories have suggested he didn’t want to map out too much of an actual transition plan ahead of time because Trump “didn’t want to jinx it” while other stories have suggested his staff didn’t map out too much themselves because they didn’t think Trump would win.
It seems more likely that the last minute Christie move was prompted largely by the recent conviction of two of Christie’s aides in the bridgegate trial and both the prosecution’s and defense’s common strategy and argument that Christie was the driving force behind either thr closure itself or that he ratified it once informed midway through. Given Christie’s dismal NH primary finish and crumbling NJ approval ratings, he didn’t really add much to Trump’s campaign or appeal, so adding him with the ultimate intention of dumping him later on seems a complete waste of time. It would have been far easier to just let Christie’s relevance diminish completely once he suspended his campaign, similar to Huckabee, Rand Paul, or Rick Perry.
Considering the other choices of Trump so far, It looks to me like Romney is being setup as the official fire fighter that will have to run constantly around the world to douse the threats and stupidity that will come out of Trump’s mouth for 4 years.
His mantra will be: “He did not meant to say that! Stop tossing shoes at me!”
But far less satisfying - Trump could never pass up the opportunity to make a guy who had annoyed him grovel before him, fetch his McDonald’s orders, and so forth. Vindictiveness mattered more than any actual planning or organization, and still does, and has hallmarked his personnel choices so far.