The White House on Tuesday declined to comment on whether Retired Gen. David Petraeus would be a good pick as President-elect Trump’s secretary of state, or any other position.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest did say that Petraeus had “significant responsibilities” as an advisor to the Obama administration. “President Obama has always admired Gen. Petraeus’ commitment to serving the country, certainly when it came to leading our men and women in uniform in a hostile situation in Iraq,” he said.
However, Earnest acknowledged that Petraeus was later found to have mishandled classified information.
“[O]bviously, Gen. Petraeus admitted to some serious crimes and he had to pay a price for that, both publicly and in his private life,” he said. “But with regard to his potential appointment as secretary of state, I will leave it to the president-elect and his team why Gen. Petraeus might be a good fit for that position and why he may be under consideration for it.
“I don’t think I would pass judgement one way or another on a potential personnel announcement,” Earnest added.
Petraeus visited Trump at Trump Tower on Monday. Following their hour-long meeting, Trump said he was “very impressed” with the retired Army general and Petraeus said the president-elect had demonstrated a “great grasp” of foreign affairs.
