Donald Trump loyalists have been outspoken about the risks of making Mitt Romney secretary of state, but the last 48 hours have shown how useful the former Massachusetts governor can be to the president-elect.
Romney is already auditioning for the top diplomat’s job by serving as Trump’s ambassador to Republicans who have remained skeptical of the president-elect.
Remember the famous picture of President Obama’s team huddled in the situation room watching the killing of Osama bin Laden? During the campaign, an Internet meme circulated spoofing a similar scene under Trump. It featured a handful of politicians who went all in on Trump early, such as Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie and Sarah Palin, plus Hulk Hogan, Bruce Willis and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Trump’s Cabinet picks so far haven’t looked anything like the circus the meme-makers have imagined. So far, not even Giuliani has cracked the Cabinet line-up (he is believed to be vying with Romney for the secretary of state job). Christie was relieved of his transition team duties. Palin is nowhere to be seen.
Instead we have gotten a fairly normal Republican Cabinet, with people whose policy views can be debated but whose credentials are generally unimpeachable: Tom Price at Health and Human Services, Elaine Chao at Transportation, Betsy DeVos at Education, Jeff Sessions at Justice.
Of those, only Sessions was an early passenger on the Trump Train. The Alabama Republican is arguably the most controversial pick from a liberal perspective, but is highly respected within the GOP. And while questions can be raised about Nikki Haley’s foreign policy experience, the designated ambassador to the United Nations is also popular among Republicans and wasn’t necessarily a Trump enthusiast.
These facts loomed large in Romney’s most public 180 on Trump Tuesday night. “The people he’s selected as members of his Cabinet are solid, effective, capable people,” he said after dinner with the president-elect and incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. “Some of them I know very well.”
Romney’s remarks were similar to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s the day after the election. Ryan didn’t go as far out on a limb against Trump as Romney, his 2012 running mate. But his frequent criticism suggested he didn’t have a much higher opinion of Trump than Romney did, just more responsibilities to Republican members of Congress representing districts where Trump is popular.
When Ryan spoke after Trump won, he almost sounded as if he was saying, “Maybe this guy knows what he is doing after all.” Romney appears to be entertaining the same thought.
At the very least, Trump’s early Cabinet picks are reassuring to conservatives who hoped he would govern within the Republican mainstream. The assent of GOP leaders like Ryan and Romney is Trump’s reward for doing so. For the Right, the payoff may be letting these Cabinet offices do their jobs, similarly conservative judicial nominees and signing bills passed by the Republican Congress.
“The worst case scenario under Trump,” said a conservative activist, “is George W. Bush with a better immigration policy.” According to this activist, that would mean a Republican administration that was not especially conservative on the size of government but strong on immigration control.
Nominating Price suggests Trump might be serious about Obamacare repeal. Chao was also an under-the-radar conservative reformer during her last Cabinet assignment, secretary of labor under President George W. Bush. “The unsung hero of the Bush administration,” Ed Feulner, then president of the Heritage Foundation, told me at the time. “She’s one of my superstars.”
Romney is sure to be ridiculed for cozying up to Trump. He has a reputation for flip-flopping on issues to improve his chances of wielding power. Trump may be his biggest flip-flop of all. And on issues like abortion, an argument could be made that his past position changes were away from what he needed to say to get elected in liberal Massachusetts to something closer to his personal convictions.
It will certainly be difficult for Romney to explain away his concerns about Trump’s character, having called him a fraud who flirts with both racism and other men’s wives. But Never Trump was at least partly about whether Trump would govern as a Republican, a set of concerns the president-elect can possibly allay.
Romney’s rapprochement with Trump can be compared to Chao’s husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and fellow Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul going from fierce rivals to allies. McConnell didn’t want Paul to be the Republican senatorial nominee in 2010. But he did want to hold that Senate seat, and when Paul won the primary and seemed serious about winning the general election they put aside their differences.
Similarly, Romney is signaling he is willing to put aside his differences with Trump if the president-elect is serious about governing. This can make other Trump skeptics more willing to work with the administration. Already, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence.
Never Trump was never very large, but it contained a lot of people with the skills and connections necessary to staff a Republican administration. Trump did not have their services during the campaign. Romney can help him obtain them as president.
Romney was the leader of the GOP’s Never Trump faction. He can now help Trump assimilate it, whether he becomes secretary of state or not.
