Mitt Romney under ‘active consideration’ to be US secretary of state

Vice President-elect Mike Pence confirms that 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is being 'actively considered' to be Donald Trump's secretary of state 

Donald Trump and Mitt Romney met at the President-elect's golf course in New Jersey
Donald Trump and Mitt Romney met at the President-elect's golf course in New Jersey

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is under “active administration” to be Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Vice President-elect Mike Pence confirmed.

The statement comes a day after President-elect Trump met up with Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who criticised him during the campaign.

“They had a good meeting, it was a warm and a substantive exchange and I know he is under active consideration to be the secretary of state of the United States along with some other very distinguished Americans,” Pence said on Fox News Sunday.

Other candidates believed to be frontrunners for the position of secretary of state include former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.

In March, during the Republican primary campaign, Romney said that Trump had neither “the temperament nor the judgement to be president”, accusing him of bullying, misogyny and dishonesty.

Trump responded by mocking Romney, calling him a “failed candidate” and a “choke artist”.

However, Romney has moved quickly to make amends since Trump’s stunning victory over Hillary Clinton on 8 November. “We had a far-reaching conversation with regards to the various threats in the world where there are interests of the United State of real significance,” Romney said. “We discussed those areas, and exchanged our views on those topics – a very thorough and in-depth discussion in the time we had. And I appreciate the chance to speak with the president-elect and I look forward to the coming administration and the things that it’s going to be doing.”