--- title: Mitt Romney Under Consideration for Secretary of State description: Mitt Romney, former Republican presidential nominee, is under "active consideration" canonical: https://time.com/4577946/mitt-romney-secretary-of-state-donald-trump/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-20T15:54:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:55:35.152Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mitt Romney Is Under 'Active Consideration' for Secretary of State og:description: Following Romney's meeting with Donald Trump og:url: https://time.com/4577946/mitt-romney-secretary-of-state-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edcbc85a372ea8/6988af250a4a2217eb9cc1cc/donald-trump-mitt-romney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Mitt Romney,Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mitt Romney Is Under 'Active Consideration' for Secretary of State twitter:description: Following Romney's meeting with Donald Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edcbc85a372ea8/6988af250a4a2217eb9cc1cc/donald-trump-mitt-romney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mitt Romney Is Under 'Active Consideration' for Secretary of State > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 20, 2016 3:54 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as Mitt Romney leaves Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, N.J., on Nov. 19, 2016. President-elect Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as Mitt Romney leaves Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, N.J., on Nov. 19, 2016. Carolyn Kaster—AP by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 20, 2016 3:54 PM UTC Mitt Romney, former Republican presidential nominee, is under “active consideration” for secretary of state, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said in an appearance on _Fox News Sunday_. Romney, who [met with Donald Trump](http://time.com/4577778/donald-trump-mitt-romney-meeting/?xid=homepage) on Saturday at the President-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J., told reporters later that he and Trump had a “far-reaching conversation.” “They had a good meeting,” Pence said. “It was a warm and a substantive exchange and I know he is under active consideration to be Secretary of State … along with some other distinguished Americans.” The [friendly meeting](http://time.com/4577778/donald-trump-mitt-romney-meeting/?xid=homepage) between Trump and Romney is in direct contrast to their relationship during the election year. Romney, a harsh critic of Trump, called him a “con man” and a “fake,” while Trump referred to him as a “choke artist” for losing the 2012 election to President Obama. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4577946/mitt-romney-secretary-of-state-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4577946/mitt-romney-secretary-of-state-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Mitt Romney Is Under 'Active Consideration' for Secretary of State","datePublished":"2016-11-20T15:54:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:55:35.152Z","description":"Following Romney's meeting with Donald Trump","url":"https://time.com/4577946/mitt-romney-secretary-of-state-donald-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edcbc85a372ea8/6988af250a4a2217eb9cc1cc/donald-trump-mitt-romney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edcbc85a372ea8/6988af250a4a2217eb9cc1cc/donald-trump-mitt-romney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mitt Romney,Donald Trump","caption":"President-elect Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as Mitt Romney leaves Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. 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