President-elect Trump has shown a shrewd willingness to hire his former detractors in the #NeverTrump faction of his party. While the media has sought to portray this as weakness, Trump’s supporters know the opposite to be true.

In reality, the #NeverTrump movement came to an unceremonious end the moment the election was called. But the humiliation of its adherents has continued as a result of Trump’s willingness to feed their desire to have a seat at his table. The more attention Trump bestows upon them, the greater their disgrace.

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No more visible sign of this has been Trump’s public rapprochement with Mitt Romney, touted as a possible secretary of State. It’s true the initial meeting at Bedminster caused trepidation among Trump supporters, for reasons that were threefold. It was Romney; the position in question was a singularly important Cabinet post; and the election was successfully fought not only against the Democratic Party, but also against the media and against the Republican Party itself, led largely by Romney. Trump supporters experienced firsthand the opprobrium and abuse that came from Romney and his allies.

In the end, the instantly legendary dinner between the two men at Jean Georges bordered on ritual public humiliation, replete with Romney singing Trump’s praises when back in the lobby of Trump Tower. One could be forgiven for thinking Trump knew exactly what he was doing.

At present, Romney as secretary of State seems rather less likely than more, leaving speculation as to whether Rudy Giuliani or John Bolton would be the better choice. From the standpoint of not alienating his most devoted followers, this is a discussion Trump Tower can easily live with.

The most significant line of demarcation involves immigration. It’s difficult to overstate the importance. Trump’s selection of Sen. Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE as attorney general was sterling in this regard. Concern now centers on his selection for the Department of Homeland Security. No less than Ann Coulter and Mickey Kaus have voiced concern that a poor selection would mean Trump’s presidency is over before it begins.

Reports indicating Bush-era official Fran Townsend is under consideration for head of the DHS elicit concern among the Trump base, but not for the reasons currently offered by conventional wisdom. To the extent Townsend is known, she is simply not up to the task of implementing the very specific promises laid out by the president-elect in his August speech on immigration.

The most cataclysmic choice would be Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the Republican head of the House Committee on Homeland Security who has been consistently weak on immigration. He embodies the thinking that has resulted in what is seen as a country without effective borders or a functioning system of laws. His selection would declare a Trump presidency stillborn before the oath of office is taken.

Little surprise, then, that he received a recent endorsement from Obama DHS chief Jeh Johnson. It’s part of the reason #NeverRomney has morphed into #NeverMcCaul.

Fortunately, the clear favorite is Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who met with Trump early on and is seen as a true immigration reformer. Townsend, it should be noted, is the fifth person to meet with Trump, ostensibly for the DHS position. Taking things at face value with Trump is as error prone as it was when he was merely a candidate, instead of the next president of the United States.

To date, Trump’s supporters have had far more reasons to be optimistic than not, despite Trump’s flirtation with some of his former detractors. The media is incorrectly casting Trump and his followers as having a lack of fixed political principles, but that is a fatal misunderstanding. Trump supporters have a well-earned trust in Trump generally, due partly to the extraordinary fact that he won.

The #NeverTrump movement has no such trust. To members of the movement who recognize the extraordinary circumstances of our time, Trump will make non-essential accommodations, granting them a fleeting sense of self-importance. Those who do not recognize the circumstances will remain irrelevant for years ahead. In either scenario, it will be Trump and his supporters who come out on top.

John Gilmore is a Republican attorney and author of “Bachmannistan: Behind The Lines."

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.