Mitt Romney and Donald J. Trump couldn’t be more different from each other, yet their paths have crossed on more than one occasion. They may loathe each other today.
At one time, though, they did not resent one another.
In fact, their relationship officially began with Trump’s bizarre endorsement of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, as Romney was in the midst of his ultimately unsuccessful campaign to unseat Barack Obama from the presidency.
Years later, Trump would go on to describe his awkward endorsement of Mitt Romney’s shambolic presidential campaign. (Remember the Project ORCA fiasco and Dan Centinello’s Purple State Strategies mismanagement of the Romney Campaign? I do!) in stark, strange terms.
In 2012, though, that was not the case. Despite the strangeness of the Trump endorsement of Mitt Romney, Trump’s impulsiveness and lack of preparation were on display — as was Romney’s duplicitousness.
After all, the devout Mormon, moderate, and committed family man, Romney, had very little in common with the gonzo, thrice-married, Manhattan real estate developer-turned-reality-television-star, Trump.
But Trump’s 2012 endorsement or Romney, while bizarre, was friendly and even seemed sincere. Both men appeared to be grateful for the opportunity to express their mutual admiration.
Trump Loves Romney?
“Mitt is tough, he’s sharp, he’s smart.” Trump huffed. Being called “tough” and “smart” were the highest forms of praise that The Donald could give. Romney, meanwhile, blushingly replied that, “Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how the economy works.”
That, too, was high praise from the wonkish Mormon.
The 2012 Republican presidential nominee gushed, “It means a great deal to me to have the endorsement of Mr. Trump.”
Just four years later, Trump would reserve some of the highest forms of his hatred for Mitt Romney, who categorically rejected Donald Trump as the GOP nominee in 2016 and renounced the “Make America Great Again” movement that Trump spearheaded.
Romney went from being “tough” and “smart” to describing Romney as having “choked like a dog” against Barack Obama in 2012. Trump then castigated Romney by describing him as “ungrateful” for Trump’s endorsement in 2012.
A few short months after those comments were made, as then-President-Elect Donald Trump was seeking a secretary of state for his administration, the first name on his list of possible candidates was none other than the man whose 2012 campaign he’d described as a “disaster” just a handful of months earlier.
In fact, a now-infamous image of Trump dining with Romney, discussing the possibility of a secretary of state nomination, circulated around the internet, confounding Trump’s supporters and enemies alike.
Neither man had changed between 2012 and 2016 (and today they are again bitter enemies).
What happened was that Trump was blinded by Romney’s wealth, and Romney was desperate to appeal to the hard-right voters who were holding out against Romney’s candidacy in 2012 because they did not believe that Romney was conservative enough.
Both Trump and Romney were using each other — not very effectively, mind you.
Trump Reveres Wealth, No Matter What
Several years ago, during the last election, a very wealthy friend of mine introduced Donald Trump at an event in Washington, D.C. I was struck by how chummy the two men appeared. I had assumed that since both had come up in the New York business community, they had known each other.
Years later, while chatting with this friend about an issue he was having, I joked “Why not just reach out to your pal, President Trump?”
He looked taken aback. “I don’t know him,” he said earnestly. I then explained why I thought he’d known the former president well because of how friendly the two were on stage a few years back.
My friend chuckled and said, “No, Trump was only friendly with me when someone told him how much money I was worth and where I used to work.”
That’s Trump in a nutshell. He reveres money. It blinds him. Mitt Romney is super wealthy. Even if Trump is wealthier on paper than Romney, he still respects anyone with massive bank accounts — even if they loathe him, as Romney did and obviously still does.
Romney is Duplicitous
And as for Romney: He did what every elite has done since Trump became a fixture in politics. Romney underestimated Trump and tried to cynically use him to further an agenda. Romney intended to kick Trump to the curb once he had gotten from Trump what he thought he could.
When that didn’t work, Romney became vicious. I suspect he was also slightly jealous of the success in politics that the boorish Trump was enjoying. Romney struggled from the start of his time in presidential politics.
Romney and Trump Define the Modern Republican Party
Romney and Trump have a strange relationship. The two men are clearly envious of each other for different reasons. Even in their dislike for one another, they have, at times, turned to the other for help.
It’s a strange and curious thing to see.
People don’t realize just how close to becoming Trump’s secretary of state Mitt Romney was.
That, even after Trump had shared his undying hatred for Romney, is shocking enough.
Now, Romney is a leader in the United States Senate for the same party that is clearly going to make Donald Trump their nominee in 2024. The two men and their coalitions couldn’t be further apart.
Donald Trump and Mitt Romney, in their unique way, have come to define modern Republican Party politics.
Sadly, neither man has really helped to enhance the brand.
Yet, both men will continue ravaging each other, and the GOP’s brand, for as long as their egos demand they remain involved in politics.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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