REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Donald Trump plans to announce his secretary of State pick on Tuesday morning, the president-elect wrote in a Monday night tweet. Trump is expected to nominate Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson to the post. In advance of the Tuesday announcement, another potential candidate confirmed that he was out of the running: former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney announced on social media that Trump had passed him over.
"It was an honor to have been considered for Secretary of State of our great country," Romney wrote on Facebook. "My discussions with President-elect Trump have been both enjoyable and enlightening. I have very high hopes that the new administration will lead the nation to greater strength, prosperity and peace."
But other Trump insiders have claimed Romney was never a serious contender. In an interview with InfoWars, informal Trump advisor Rodger Stone claimed that Trump only offered the position to punish Romney for opposing him during the election. “Donald Trump was interviewing Mitt Romney for Secretary of State in order to torture him,” Stone said. “To toy with him. And given the history, that’s completely understandable. Mitt Romney crossed a line. He didn’t just oppose Trump, which is his democratic right, he called him a phony and a fraud. And a con man. And that’s not the kind of man you want as Secretary of State.”