Elliott Abrams, CNN reports, will not be nominated as deputy secretary of state. A veteran diplomat and foreign policy expert with experience in both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, Abrams was Secretary Rex Tillerson’s choice for the number-two position at the State Department. He was also, according to CNN, favored by chief of staff Reince Priebus and senior advisor Jared Kushner, and sources say President Trump’s Tuesday meeting at the White House with Abrams and Tillerson went well.
The trouble with Abrams wasn’t issues with his potential confirmation. While Republican senator Rand Paul had expressed his opposition to Abrams earlier this week, others in the GOP, led by Trump loyalist Tom Cotton, had assured the White House confirmation of Abrams would be no problem; indeed, Abrams looked poised to get some Democratic votes.
Instead, as CNN reports, Trump turned on the idea of nominating him after he learned Abrams had publicly criticized him during the campaign. Abrams’s criticism was fairly mild—the most cited article was from a May 2016 issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, “When You Can’t Stand Your Candidate.” He also never signed any of the handful of letters from Republican and conservative foreign-policy types denouncing Trump.
So what changed between Abrams’s good meeting with the president on Tuesday and the decision to not offer the job? With three of his top advisers—Tillerson, Priebus, and Kushner—all encouraging him to appoint Abrams, who convinced him otherwise? The White House has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
