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Washington • President-elect Donald Trump's meeting with one-time foe Mitt Romney is aimed more at hearing Romney's thoughts on world affairs and less about offering a job in the administration, Trump aides say.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who now lives in Utah, harshly criticized Trump as unfit for office in March and in subsequent comments. He is expected to sit down with Trump at the president-elect's golf course in Bedminster, N.J., on Saturday.
Sean Spicer, the top Republican National Committee strategist helping with Trump's transition to the White House, told reporters that Trump wants to hear ideas from everyone, including rivals.
"What that meeting suggests, and the meetings you've seen over the past couple of days, is the president-elect wants the best and brightest people to put this country forward: people who supported him, people who didn't support him," Spicer said, likening the conversation with Romney to one Trump had with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
The Romney meeting, Spicer said, is "just an opportunity to hear his ideas and his thoughts."
Trump is considering a role for Romney in the administration, according to news reports, including for him to serve as secretary of state.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch told reporters in Salt Lake City on Friday that he talked to Trump the previous day, in part, about Romney.
"He is very high on Mitt," Hatch said. "Anybody would want to have Mitt on their team. I just hope they can get together, because they have had a real split over the years."
Hatch added that Trump "feels badly about some of the dialogue they had together, where he was kind of tough on Mitt." Also, "He wants to have a friendship there, so Mitt is coming back all the way from Hawaii to be with him."
Hatch said, "I hope they can get together because these are two giants in the Republican Party and two giants in politics, and they can help each other."
The president-elect is also meeting this weekend with the former chancellor of schools in the District of Columbia, an education activist, a retired Marine Corps general, the head of the Carl's Jr. franchise and the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, Todd Ricketts.
Trump spokesman Jason Miller said that the meetings are not only about filling specific roles in his administration but also hearing from the "best, brightest and most-qualified people."
Romney awkwardly accepted Trump's endorsement of his 2012 presidential bid but staunchly opposed Trump during the Republican primaries this year, going as far as to call him a "phony" and a "fraud."
Trump responded by noting that he has a lot of friends but "Mitt Romney isn't one of them," and then questioning if Romney was really a Mormon. He is. Trump also referred to Romney as a "choke artist" and a "loser."
After Trump's upset victory, Romney did extend best wishes to the president-elect.
Trump's meetings since the election have been held in private and reporters have been kept away from even seeing the president-elect beyond his victory speech. Romney's meeting with Trump in New Jersey is likely to be in private as well, with reporters temporarily holding court in a "drainage ditch," according to a pool report, as Trump's aides initially did not allow journalists into the private golf course. The media eventually was allowed on the property.