| | | | Trump's secretary of state: Mitt Romney? | | President-elect Donald Trump will meet this weekend with one of his fiercest critics: 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, a discussion that could include the position of secretary of state. The two men are set to discuss "governing moving forward" and potentially a role for Romney in Trump's Cabinet, a senior Republican source told CNN on Thursday. Romney has told friends that he would like to serve in government again and the one job he is interested in is secretary of state, a senior Republican with knowledge of the transition tells CNN. The source says Romney is meeting with Trump, in part, to discuss it, per CNN's Mark Preston and Jeremy Diamond.
Bringing in the 'adults': Romney is being presented as a choice that would show Trump is looking for "adults," because he would bring a team of professionals along with him, the source said, adding that the nomination is being seen as a "serious" possibility.
What about Rudy? The meeting with Romney comes as concern about Rudy Giuliani's chances of confirmation continue -- a factor, the source said, that has been discussed with Trump. Giuliani discussed his foreign business ties in a 2012 Serbian TV interview, reports CNN's Andrew Kaczynski. | | "Nope." -- Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, on whether he will run for president in 2020. He says he's seeking re-election in 2018. | | | Rep. Ryan: Keeping Pelosi is 'the definition of insanity' | | Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan announced Thursday that he will challenge House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi later this month, underscoring the growing angst within the party after the stunning defeat to President-elect Donald Trump. Ryan noted that Democrats haven't regained the House majority in 2010, '12, '14 or '16, and have their smallest congressional minority since 1929. "The definition of insanity," he told CNN's Manu Raju, is to do the "same thing over and over again and keep getting the same results."
Another would-be challenger is out: Rep. Joe Crowley of New York declined a quiet lobbying push to challenge Pelosi.
The National Republican Congressional Committee -- the House GOP's campaign arm -- weighed in with some A+ trolling, crediting her for the existence of the Republican majority: | | | On the Senate side ... Eyeing Donald Trump, Democrats are hoping new leader Chuck Schumer can win a street brawl between two boys from Queens and Brooklyn, writes CNN's Stephen Collinson. | | | Former top Barack Obama strategist David Axelrod gave Donald Trump's transition team some cover today. | | Japan's Abe told not to take Trump literally | | Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he wants to "build trust" with President-elect Donald Trump ahead of their meeting in New York on Thursday, as he seeks to safeguard the long-standing alliance between the two countries.
"I am very honored to see the President-elect ahead of other world leaders," Abe told reporters before his departure. "The Japan-US alliance is the axis of Japan's diplomacy and security. The alliance becomes alive only when there is trust between us. I would like to build such a trust with Mr. Trump." More from CNN's Katie Hunt, Junko Ogura and Yoko Wakatsuki.
The key line: A top aide to Abe, Katsuyuki Kawai, said that he'd been told by members of Trump's transition team that Trump's previous remarks should not be taken literally. | | Lee flew to Florida to try and forge Rubio-Cruz alliance | | Mike Lee had the plane ticket, the Miami hotel suite and the buy-in. All he needed was for Marco Rubio to show up. In the week before the Florida Republican primary in March, Lee headed early to the GOP presidential debate there with a mission: to convince one Senate friend, Rubio, to ally with another, Ted Cruz, and form a unity ticket to block Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination.
But at the last minute, as Lee prepared to board his plane, Rubio backed out of the meeting. Though Rubio was initially open to the unity idea, according to two sources familiar with the talks, he declined the meeting with Lee, who bought the ticket at his own expense. "I don't think I can do this," Rubio told Lee, according to one of the sources. "I don't think I can back out and not be a presidential candidate prior to the primary in Florida."
That's another revelation in "Unprecedented: The Election that Changed Everything," CNN's upcoming book on the 2016 race that comes out December 6. It was written by CNN's Thomas Lake with reporting from Jodi Enda, Susan Baer and CNN's political team. Preorder it here. | | | More troubling post-election racism: Texas high school students chanted "build that wall" at Hispanics during a volleyball match. ... President Barack Obama, at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, warned of a "meaner world" today. ... Bad news for Hill denizens: | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out CNNMoney's Reliable Sources, an insider's look into the media brought to you by Brian Stelter. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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