Who Will Be Trump's Secretary of State? Here Are the Top 3 Names
Who will Donald Trump choose for the key position of Secretary of State? While the president-elect's supporters are publicly split between two candidates, a third name has emerged which cannot be overlooked.
"The president-elect is meeting with a number of well-qualified potential selections for this important position who share his America First foreign policy — some of whom have been made public and others who have not — and the president-elect will make public his decision when he has finalized it," a spokesman, Jason Miller, told The New York Times.
While it's likely to take at least a week for Trump to make the announcement, a Twitter war has ensued between the respective supporters of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani for the top Cabinet post. However, the name of Gen. John F. Kelly of the Marines has also appeared.
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"Ugly fight over SecState is harbinger of coming fights for the favor and attention of Trump," Times reporter Mark Landler tweeted.
"Receiving deluge of social media & private comms re: Romney Some Trump loyalists warn against Romney as sec of state," tweeted Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway in an apparent attempt to undermine the former Republican Party nominee's chance.
In March, Romney criticized Trump in a speech in Salt Lake City, calling him a "phony" and a "fraud." Trump at the time responded by calling Romney a "choke artist."
"It's not about that I don't care for Mitt personally, but I'm still very unhappy that Mitt did everything he could to derail Donald Trump," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Fox News, according to Politico. "He didn't just go after him from a standpoint of saying I disagree with his policy on immigration or I disagree with his policy on taxes. He attacked him on a personal level about his character, integrity, his honor."
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, "You have to list out all the things he said and think, 'Is this guy really gonna be loyal?' But also, you know, Gov. Romney wanted to be president, not secretary of state, and you have to ask the question: When he goes overseas, is he gonna be the secretary of state for President Trump or is he gonna be Mitt Romney's own secretary state?"
Giuliani, who has earlier worked as a private attorney and with the Department of Justice, seems to be pushing his name for the position.
"I probably have travelled in the last 13 years as much as Hillary did in the years she was secretary of state," Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal. "My knowledge of foreign policy is as good, or better, than anybody they're talking to … I've been to England eight times, Japan six times, France five times. China three times – once with Bill Clinton, by the way."
Giuliani received international attention after the 9/11 terror attacks in Manhattan, due to his leadership as New York mayor.
However, Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host whose show Trump reportedly watches, has cautioned the president-elect against picking anyone with little foreign policy experience.
Trump should pick "boring, middle-of-the-road" officials, the host said, according to Business Insider. "You don't get rookies for that, you don't get ideologues for that … Pick Rudy Giuliani for the secretary of state, or John Bolton for your secretary of state, and watch everything melt down internationally," he added.
Referring to large payments Giuliani allegedly took from the Qatari government as well as a group on the State Department's terror watch list, Scarborough asked, "How could Rudy Giuliani after the Hillary Clinton debacle on paid speeches, how could Rudy Giuliani ever be secretary of state?"
Meanwhile, Trump recently met with the third possible candidate, retired Marine Gen. Kelly, a former head of the United States Southern Command who publicly disagreed with President Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison, according to The Washington Post.
Kelly, who retired from active duty last year, has experience in leading U.S. military operations across Central and South America. He has also warned against the threat from trafficking of illicit drugs, arms and people into the United States.
He played a central role in largely destroying al-Qaida in western Iraq and later became senior military adviser to then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to Marine Corps Times. Six years ago, one of Kelly's sons, 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan while serving with the 5th Marine Regiment.
