Amidst controversy in Donald Trump's transition team over his possible nomination as secretary of state, Mitt Romney and the president-elect had dinner together Tuesday night at Jean Georges in New York City [1]. The meeting, which also included Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, suggests that Romney is still in the running for the position, even though Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway publicly criticized the former governor and left doubt about his nomination.
Romney first met with Trump at his Bedminister, NJ, golf club [2] in mid-November, prompting speculation they had overcome their differences. Shortly after the meeting, Conway went on MSNBC's Meet the Press [3] and shared her unfiltered opinion about Romney, even questioning if he voted for Trump.
"People feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump, now our president-elect, would be given the most significant cabinet post of all, secretary of state," Conway said.
After the meeting, Romney spoke to the press [4] and changed his position on Trump, whom he once called a "fraud" and a "phony." Speaking at Trump Tower, Romney applauded Trump's cabinet nominations [5], saying they "give me increasing hope that President-elect Trump is the very man who can lead us to that better future."
Here's Mitt Romney talking to reporters after his dinner with Trump at Jean George's. pic.twitter.com/nzj8FN0gug [6]
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) November 30, 2016 [7]
A picture of Trump and Romney eating dinner instantaneously went viral given their contentious history. Twitter users provided hilarious captions for it — here are a few highlights.
I don't know what he's just agreed to do for Trump but it looks bad: pic.twitter.com/ysVSRROBDH [8]
— Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) November 30, 2016 [9]
*record scratch*
*freeze frame*
Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation ... pic.twitter.com/VC9XZblMGY [10]— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) November 30, 2016 [11]
Mitt Romney's worst tinder date ever pic.twitter.com/atW9680C5C [12]
— Jana vlogs (@Janavlogs) November 30, 2016 [13]
CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta was at the restaurant where the men were dining and asked Trump if Romney would be the next secretary [14]. "Well, we're gonna see what happens," answered Trump.
Trump is reportedly considering former New York City mayor and close ally Rudy Giuliani [15] for the position as well; he has also interviewed former CIA director David Petraeus and Senator Bob Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for the job.