Trump aides said Mitt Romney, on the eve of his swearing in to the Senate, was seeking to define himself as the new leader of the Never Trump movement. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File/AP Photo 2020 Election Romney broadside stokes Trump camp's suspicions about 2020 Those close to the incoming Utah senator told POLITICO he agonized over whether to publish the rebuke.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel connected with President Donald Trump by phone on Tuesday evening with some alarming news: Mitt Romney, her uncle, was about to publish an op-ed savaging him.

McDaniel, who had gotten a heads-up about the missive directly from Romney, was frustrated and knew she wanted to push back forcefully. That evening, she wrote a tweet defending the president. The next morning, as Romney’s op-ed took hold of the news cycle, McDaniel, Trump’s handpicked party chairwoman, sent out an even more strongly worded tweet scolding her uncle.


In the op-ed, Romney argues that Trump "has not risen to the mantle of the office," blew up a delicate détente between the two men. And it immediately fueled suspicions among the president’s top aides that the incoming senator is up to something — maybe even keeping the door open to a 2020 primary challenge.

At a time when talk of a 2020 GOP primary has simmered, Trump aides said Romney, on the eve of his swearing in to the Senate, was seeking to define himself as the new leader of the Never Trump movement. They noted that Romney had taken steps in recent weeks to reactivate the national fundraising network he’d established in his 2012 presidential bid: This fall, long before being sworn in, the new senator hosted a fundraiser for his political action committee.

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Two senior Trump aides said they were convinced that Stuart Stevens, a longtime top Romney adviser and an outspoken Trump critic, had played a role in drafting the op-ed. ("Mitt wrote this. I didn't do a thing," Stevens responded when reached for comment Wednesday evening.) And former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon argued that Romney had launched a “direct challenge to Trump for leadership.”

It’s the latest chapter in a years-long tale of on-again, off-again tensions between Trump and Romney. In 2016, Romney was vocal in his opposition to Trump and implored the party to nominate someone else. Then, after the election, Trump considered Romney for the secretary of state post but ultimately left him hanging. Then, after taking steps to block Romney from running for Utah’s Senate seat, the president endorsed him.

Appearing on CNN Wednesday, Romney denied that he is interested in challenging Trump.

“He did something I couldn't do. He won. And I recognize that and appreciate that,” he said. “But no, I'm not running again. And we'll see whether someone else does in a Republican primary or not. But time will tell.”

Romney, however, pointedly refused to endorse Trump for reelection and said that he first wants “to see what the alternatives are.”

Behind the scenes, Romney was torn over whether to publish the op-ed, a person close to him said. In discussions with his tight inner circle of aides, many of whom have been with him since his 2012 presidential bid, the incoming senator weighed the pros and cons of going after the president so aggressively prior to his swearing in. He was well aware that the op-ed would ignite a media firestorm and that it would be seen as a key moment in his early Senate career, something he would be asked about repeatedly in the halls of the Capitol.

But as the new year neared, Romney found himself increasingly frustrated with the president, the person close to Romney said. He vented over the president’s Syrian troop withdrawal and he was troubled by the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. And he was troubled by Trump’s declaration to U.S. troops stationed in Iraq that America was no longer “the suckers of the world.”

The former GOP nominee decided to plunge ahead with the op-ed. After punching out a draft, he sent it to a small group of advisers for input.

Romney's allies said he’s merely following through on his long-held promise to speak out against Trump when he feels he needs to.

“He’s setting down a marker for what kind of senator he will be, and the way he will comport himself once his time in the Senate begins,” said Lanhee Chen, a former Romney policy adviser.

As the op-ed dominated media coverage Wednesday, the White House was concerned enough that Trump’s top Senate surrogates were dispatched to push back on their soon-to-be colleague. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a vocal backer of Trump’s Syria decision, called Romney’s comments “an anomaly” and a “minority opinion.”

“The senator from Utah misjudged,” he added. “This kind of sentiment doesn’t represent Utah that well.”

Trump himself took to Twitter to warn Romney not to become the next Jeff Flake and point out that "I won big, and he didn’t." Later, before TV cameras, he again implored the incoming senator to get on board, noting, “If he fought the way he fights me, he would have won the election” against President Barack Obama in 2012.

Trump aides insist the president wouldn’t be jeopardized in a prospective Republican primary — against Romney or anyone else. The president’s approval among Republicans hovers in the 80s. Last month, a survey released by Trump's 2016 pollster, John McLaughlin, showed the president leading Romney, 72 percent to 9 percent, in a prospective 2020 matchup.

While Trump advisers concede there is some unease in the party toward Trump, they contend a mainstream figure like Romney would pose little threat.

“Whatever ambition Sen. Romney had to be president, he needs to put to rest,” McLaughlin wrote in an email. “It’s time to look ahead. The Republican Party is now Trump’s party, not the Romney GOP establishment. It’s not a country club. It’s Trump’s party of working taxpayers.”

Still, Trump aides worry that a primary challenge would become an unwelcome distraction for the president’s reelection campaign and potentially turn the 2020 GOP convention into a circus. They note that no Republican president has won reelection after a contested primary and point to George H.W. Bush’s bruising 1992 primary against Pat Buchanan as evidence of the damage an incumbent can suffer.

Some party officials are concerned enough that they're exploring ways to shut off avenues for potential challengers to Trump. Jevon O.A. Williams, an RNC member from the Virgin Islands, circulated a letter to fellow party officials after Romney’s op-ed was published urging them to amend the party’s rules to make it harder for an insurgent.

“While President Trump would win re-nomination it wouldn’t come quick and it wouldn’t be inexpensive,” he wrote. “Any contested re-nomination campaign—even a forlorn hope—would only help Democrats.”

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.