Former New York City mayor and leading Donald Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani bowed out of the hunt for a cabinet position in the president-elect’s administration Friday, telling Fox News that he could be of more use outside the White House.

“My desire to be in the cabinet was great, but it wasn’t that great, and he had a lot of terrific candidates,” he told Neil Cavuto. “I thought I could play a better role being on the outside and continuing to be his close friend and adviser.”