Donald Trump met today with Mitt Romney, his former Republican nemesis, and will tomorrow sit down with Wilbur Ross, a billionaire “king of bankruptcy”, his transition team has said, as he considers whom to appoint to his cabinet.

Mr Ross, a 78-year-old investor, known for restructuring debt-riven coal, steel and textile companies, is a vociferous critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the bedrock economic alliance that Mr Trump has threatened to renegotiate.

Already an economic adviser to Mr Trump, Mr Ross is said to be in the running for secretary of commerce. He has said politicians “don’t know a good deal from a bad one”.

Mr Trump and Mike Pence, the vice president-elect yesterday hosted meetings for cabinet positions at the clubhouse of the Trump International Golf Club in New Jersey.