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Trump, Romney have ‘far-reaching conversation’ at meeting

Storyline:National News

Donald Trump met with Mitt Romney, once a fierce critic of the president-elect who is now being floated as a potential pick for secretary of state, on Saturday afternoon, setting aside the friction between the two men and signaling a willingness by Trump to entertain different points of view on foreign policy.

Romney appeared to warmly shake hands with Trump, each man gripping the arm of the other, as he arrived at Trump’s New Jersey golf course. The two exchanged pleasantries, with Trump placing his hand on Romney’s back, and disappeared behind a large brown door with Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

After the meeting, which lasted for more than an hour, Romney said the men had a “very thorough and in-depth discussion” regarding “the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance.” Romney said that he and Trump exchanged views and that he looks forward to the new administration. Trump said of the meeting: “It went great.”

Romney and Trump hold different views on U.S. relations with Russia. Romney has called the country America’s “number one geopolitical foe.” According to the Kremlin, Trump and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin spoke Monday, agreeing that U.S.-Russian relations are “unsatisfactory” and vowing to work together to improve them. Trump’s office said in a statement that the president-elect told Putin he was looking forward to “having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the People of Russia.”

The cordiality that Romney and Trump displayed publicly was a marked change from the way the men spoke about each other during the campaign.

Romney told CNN in June that a Trump presidency could bring “trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny” to the nation. In a speech, Romney called the real estate mogul a “con man” and a “fake.” Trump said Romney “blew it” and “choked like a dog” in his failed bid to unseat President Obama in 2012, and he called the former Massachusetts governor “one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics.”

Trump and Pence are spending the weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., in a nearly constant stream of meetings with potential administration hires and others looking to dispense advice. Trump said Saturday evening that he was seeing “tremendous talent.” When asked if his cabinet was being shaped, he said: “Yes. Partially. We’re doing this again tomorrow.”

He and Pence met earlier in the day with retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, a potential pick for secretary of defense who could be seen as a rebuke to President Obama. Mattis oversaw U.S. forces in the Middle East from 2010 to 2013. He was said to have consistently pushed the military to punish Iran and its allies, including calling for more covert actions to capture and kill Iranian operatives and interdictions of Iranian warships.

Former defense officials said Mattis’s views on Iran caused him to fall out of favor with the Obama administration, which was negotiating the Iranian nuclear deal at the time. Mattis, who also clashed with the administration over its response to the Arab Spring and how many troops to keep in Iraq, was forced to retire earlier than expected to clear room for his replacement at U.S. Central Command. Now a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Mattis has publicly criticized Obama’s defense and national security policies.

When asked whether he would choose Mattis as defense secretary, Trump said: “We’ll see.” He called the retired general “the real deal” and a “brilliant wonderful man.” A source familiar with transition discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that no decision has yet been reached about whether Mattis will join the Trump administration.