Corker praises Trump’s foreign policy ‘instincts’
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) lauded Donald Trump’s foreign policy chops after meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower on Tuesday.
{mosads}”It’s been an honor to have the kind of meeting that I had today,” said Corker, who is reportedly under consideration to be Trump’s secretary of State.
“We had a very wide-ranging meeting, actually a couple meetings, and his instincts on foreign policy are obviously very, very good.”
Corker confirmed that he’s “in the running for a Cabinet position,” adding that while the decision is narrowed down to a “very small group,” he’s unsure of the timeline.
“The secretary of State’s role is so important to a president. He needs to choose someone that he’s very comfortable with and he knows that there’s going to be no daylight between him and them. He needs to know that the secretary of State is someone who speaks fully for the president.”
The meeting with Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, comes as Trump continues to consider his options for chief diplomat.
Trump met with Gen. David Petraeus on Monday and is slated to meet with Mitt Romney later Tuesday. And Reuters reported that Trump will also meet on Tuesday with Rudy Giuliani, a Trump loyalist who is pushing for the job.
Corker had previously met with Trump as a potential running mate before Trump selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
Petraeus could give the administration some bipartisan flair — the former head of operations in Iraq served as President Obama’s CIA director. But his conviction for mishandling classified information could prove disqualifying, especially after Trump’s criticism of former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified material.
Trump’s flirtation with Romney, a vocal Trump critic during the Republican primaries, has caused a rift in the Trump camp. Some support the move as an olive branch to establishment Republicans, while others see it as a betrayal of those who worked to get Trump into office.
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