Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is praising President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE's "strong start," citing his early push to fulfill various campaign pledges.

"We're all watching with interest. He’s obviously gotten off to a very strong start in terms of making a series of executive orders and making the changes that he promised during the campaign," Romney told the Deseret News on Friday.

The 2012 GOP presidential nominee acknowledged that Trump has faced "some bumps in the road."

Trump has issued a series of executive orders, but has faced huge backlash over his Jan. 27 order denying entry to nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

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The executive order sparked a flurry of lawsuits challenging the ban's constitutionality and was temporarily stopped nationwide by a Bush-appointed federal judge on Friday.

Romney, a prominent critic of Trump during the 2016 campaign who was briefly considered for the position of secretary of State in Trump's administration, expressed optimism over Trump's presidency.

"I expressed honestly what my belief was with regards to temperament and character. Now the time has come for us to recognize we have a new president and we have hopes he will be successful leading our country," Romney said.

Romney also said that he did not regret being considered for secretary of State, a job that went to Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson, who was confirmed by the Senate this week.



"I had very good meetings with, at that point, President-elect Trump," Romney told the Deseret News, praising the newly-elected president for being "willing to talk to me, given the fact that I had been so critical."

According to the newspaper, Romney also said that "all doors are open" when it comes to potential future political ambitions, but added that he is "not looking forward to anything political at the national level."



"I don't have any predictions on what I might do. I'm not going to open a door and I'm not going to close a door. All doors are open," he said.