Newt Gingrich suggested that it isn't clear Mitt Romney is "willing to be his secretary of state." | AP Photo Gingrich says Giuliani would make a better secretary of state than Romney

Newt Gingrich prefers Rudy Giuliani to Mitt Romney as a potential secretary of state, the former House Speaker said on Monday.

Gingrich, emerging from a meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower, told reporters he would support whoever Trump picked, but declared: “I think there are huge advantages to Rudy Giuliani."


“Frankly, I think that if you want someone who is going to go out and be a very tough negotiator for America and represent American interest in the way that Trump campaigned, I think that probably Rudy is a better pick and has the right temperament,” he elaborated, according to a pool report of his remarks.

Gingrich suggested that it isn’t clear Romney was “willing to be [Trump’s] secretary of state,” and asked whether Romney “would work to make Trump Romney’s version of the presidency.”

“I think they’ve got to talk it through,” he added. Romney is under “active consideration” to be Trump’s top diplomat, according to comments made by Vice President-elect Mike Pence over the weekend.

The former Massachusetts governor has said little about the potential role, telling reporters after a Saturday meeting with Trump only that the two men had “a far-reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance.”

As for Giuliani, Gingrich said, “We’re going to need somebody who is a fighter,” because “the world is not going to change just because we show up and say ‘please.’ If that was going to work, Secretary Kerry would be successful."

Asked about his own role in a Trump administration, Gingrich said he would like to be a “senior planner” advising the president-elect and other Republicans in office nationwide.

Gingrich said he has spoken with Trump “for months” about this desired role, and said Trump “indicated quite clearly that he understands what I want to do.”

Citing Republicans’ control of the House and Senate and their dominant presence in statehouses across the country, Gingrich said he would like to “plan and educate and develop the entire Republican Party with the support, the active support, of the president-elect.” He said the role would be independent of the White House but would work with it.

“My driving goal is to figure out, in January 2025, how did we serve the country so well,” said Gingrich, a historian by training. “To do that, I think you have to have someone who can maintain perspective.”

He added: “You really have to focus totally on that one sector. And I think it’s probably useful to have at least one person who tries to look at the overall picture and then just advise not just the president, but the entire nature of the Republican system across the country.”