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Former President Donald Trump is claiming that Senator Mitt Romney "begged" to join his administration as U.S. secretary of state.
Trump endorsed Romney's run as the 2012 GOP nominee for president. However, the pair have had a contentious relationship for most of the time since Trump became the 2016 nominee, often engaging in a war of words that has included a number of personal insults.
In a scathing Truth Social post on Monday, Trump lashed out at Romney as "a total loser" and celebrated his recent announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2024. The former president boasted that he had "forced" Romney out of politics.
"Mitt Romney, a total loser that only a mother could love, just wrote a book which is, much like him, boring, horrible, and totally predictable," Trump wrote. "I am very proud to be the one who forced this Left Leaning RINO ['Republican in name only'] out of politics."
Trump complained that Romney's "crummy book says nothing good about anybody" except for former GOP House speaker and 2012 running mate Paul Ryan, whom the former president also denounced as a "RINO."
Romney has not recently authored a book. However, he is quoted extensively in author McKay Coppins' forthcoming biography Romney: A Reckoning. The book features the Utah senator lashing out at the current state of the Republican Party, including strong criticism for Trump.
Trump suggested that the book should have mentioned Romney allegedly begging him for a Cabinet position following his surprise 2016 election victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"Does he mention his late night dinner with me at Trump International Hotel when he begged to be Secretary of State, then giving GLOWING COMMENTS about DJT at a follow up News Conference?" wrote Trump.
"I didn't give him the job, NOR DID I EVER INTEND TO," he added. "I JUST WANTED TO PROVE A POINT, THAT MITT ROMNEY IS, & ALWAYS HAS BEEN, A LIGHTWEIGHT JOKE!"
Newsweek reached out for comment to Romney's office via email on Monday.
Romney did meet with Trump to reportedly discuss the secretary of state job multiple times after the 2016 election.
According to The Guardian, Romney admits in Romney: A Reckoning that he wanted the appointment for "a mix of noble motivations and self-centered ones," saying that "being secretary of state's not a bad spot" since he "can't be president."
In subsequent Truth Social posts on Monday, Trump shared Romney's remarks after a late November dinner at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City.
The senator described his meeting with the then-future president as "wonderful" in comments to press at the time, saying that he had "increasing hope" of Trump being the right person to "lead us to that better future."
A spokesperson for Trump previously denounced Romney for reportedly claiming in Romney: A Reckoning that Trump once bragged about plans to unceremoniously "drop" his then-girlfriend Melania.
In comments to Rolling Stone, Trump's team accused Romney of "lying and creating fake stories in order to stay relevant" and of retiring from politics "because he knows he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving another campaign."
The upcoming book also reportedly features the senator mocking Trump's intelligence for suggesting during his presidency that a potential cure for COVID-19 could involve the use of a "disinfectant" via "injection inside or almost a cleaning."
"I think he's not smart. I mean, really not smart," Romney says in the book, according to HuffPost. "It's like, how is that possible for someone over the second or third grade to think that?"
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more