WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump has spoken with Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate who has expressed interest in running for Senate in Utah.

The two men spoke briefly Thursday night. The White House says they spoke about Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is retiring after four decades. Hatch’s departure opens the door for Romney, who has been a frequent critic of Trump in the past.

Trump had urged Hatch to run again.

Romney now lives in Utah, where he’s fondly regarded as the man who helped turn around Salt Lake City’s scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics. During the last presidential campaign, Romney called then-candidate Trump “a fraud” who had “neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president.”